Psychosocial Development In Gus Van Sant's Good Will Hunting

Introduction Gus Van Sant’s 1997 movie “Good Will Hunting,” introduces 20 year old Will Hunting, an orphan who was physically abused by his foster dad. Despite, his lack of social skills, and criminal record, Will is intellectually superior to other young adults. Math professor Gerard attempts to straighten up Will’s life by sending him to therapy. The following essay will be a psychoanalysis on Will Hunting, and will discuss, Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development, Ainsworth’s theory of attachment, defense mechanisms, and the movie’s portrayal of therapy. Erikson’s theory states that “[social forces effect our human development], […] [the individual himself, and society play an important role in personality development]” (S. Wood, …show more content…
Wood et al., 2015). External events within our environment shape us therefore I agree with Erikson. Will goes through stages one to six in Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development, however, he does not resolve the conflict in the majority of these stages. Will fluctuates between the stages, illustrating that Will’s mental development is not stable. However, in the end of the movie Will commits himself to his girlfriend Skylar and pursues her to California. Therefore, Will resolves the conflict in stage six “Intimacy vs. Isolation,” which is established as a young adult when one has the ability to form intimate relationships and commit to them (S. Wood et al., …show more content…
In the first counselling session Will insults Sean MacGuire’s wife. To put Will in his place Sean strangles Will. In reality, this situation would never occur. However, like Carl Rogers suggests psychologists should have “[positive regard for their patient and accept them regardless of their thought, feelings, or behaviors],” Sean accepts most things about Will (S. Wood et al., 2015). Secondly, “[therapists feelings towards their clients must be genuine],” Sean exposes his true self to Will and never lies to him (S. Wood et al., 2015). Lastly, “[therapists must be able to empathize with their clients and put themselves in their clients place to comprehend their feelings],” Sean empathizes with Will and can put himself in Will’s shoes since he used to live in Southern Boston (S. Wood et al., 2015). Nevertheless, Sean’s therapy sessions do not reflect the principals of Gestalt therapy, “[Gestalt therapy is a directive therapy, where the psychologist determines the direction of the therapy sessions],” Sean lets Will decide on the direction of the therapy sessions (S. Wood et al.,