Though our society has evolved regarding the profession and need of counseling services, many people remain with the stigma that only individuals who are “crazy” require counseling. For many years, the notion of counseling was rarely linked to or associated with mental health/mental illness. However, due to personal ordeals and societal demands the level, many people suffer with mental illness. There was a point in time where seeking counseling services was taboo. As individuals and a society, we fail to reflect on or are oblivious to the disadvantage of not addressing our mental state if and when necessary. In the film “Good Will Hunting”, I will describe the resistance of the character Will Hunting in building effective and meaningful …show more content…
Sean McGuire had similarities in terms of their feelings. In observing the movie, Sean demonstrates his ability as Will’s therapist to provide him with an encouraging attachment relationship. A bond was developed that enabled Will to create a significant understanding regarding his self worth. With this understanding, Will display an ability to engage and interact effectively with others. According to Hutchinson, the meaning of attachment is “An enduring emotional bond between two people who are important to each other Provides affection and a sense of security” (Hutchinson, 2008, p.546). Examples of this process were the shared experiences of being raised in the same area of South Boston, a similar interest in books, their passion for baseball, and their common experience of having been physically abused in their childhood. In most therapists’ opinion, commonality creates hope for any future connection between therapist and client. While watching the movie, it was evident that shared experiences forced Will to see Sean as a human being, not just another adult trying to hurt him. Patients who are very guarded and defensive, the commonality phase provides them hope of change once …show more content…
In Will’s therapy sessions, Sean conveyed his empathy for Will. According to Myers, “Empathy is the Vicarious experience of another’s feelings; putting oneself in another’s shoes” (Myer, 2002, p.473). Since Sean demonstrated the ability to recognize Will 's indignity and fear, it helped subdue Will 's anxiety and promoted Will’s realistic connection with himself and others. In the Movie, Will recognizes the commonality with Sean allowing him to acknowledge the nurturing relationship that Sean offers. It appears that Sean was the surrogate caregiver that Will never had, satisfying the gaps of Will 's development. Sean 's experiences provided Will with a sense of belonging as Will was provided with insight as to how life should be in an unbroken/normal home. Since Will was never exposed to recognize real intimacy between a man and woman, Sean often shared his loved and experiences from his marriage. This allowed Will to reflect on the closeness of Sean’s marriage and the splendor found in trusting and loving others with all their
From reading and reflecting her personal experience and journey with her sister, Pamela, I acquired a personal outlook of the deteriorating effects of mental illness as a whole, discovering how one individual’s symptoms could significantly impact others such as family and friends. From this new perspective mental health counseling provides a dominate field within not only individuals who may suffer mental illness such as Pamela, but also serve as a breaking point for family and friends who also travel through the illness, such as Carolyn.
Dan and Betsy go through their emotions on hearing about Samuel condition of cerebral palsy. The roll coaster of emotion they felt. As a parent I could relate to their emotion of having a child with disabilities. I would love my child regards of condition but the emotion I would feel would be fear. Dan and Betsy both went through fear; asking themselves what about his education, and interaction with others. I would have those same question; as
As a result, this instills an orthodox feeling when Sean opens up about his past experiences. With this in mind, Will feels uneasy about what is to come. Sean uses pathos to make Will feel guilty about his actions, and how ignorant his claims are about the world. “And you wouldn't know what it’s like to be her angel and to have that love for her to be there forever. Through anything. Through cancer. You wouldn't know about sleeping sitting up in a hospital room for two months holding her hand because the doctors could see in your eyes that the term visiting hours don't apply to you” (Damon). As he describes the way love feels, the horrors of war, and what true loss really means, it becomes unimaginable and heartbreaking to hear what it is like. Will had never felt this way
To me, Schizophrenia is by far the most frightening disorders in the DSM. Snyder’s account of how he truly believed his delusions, specifically those surrounding the debilitating fear for his life, are hard to image. This presents a challenge for me as a counselor in empathizing with clients who are experiencing this. In reflecting on this dilemma, I came to realize that while I may not be able to understand the fear of my life being in danger, I can relate to the emotion of fear; this can be the connecting point for me to the client. Expressing sympathy is also another tool I have when I am unable to empathize with a client’s thoughts and emotions. Furthermore, Snyder’s narrative reinforced my notion of how insidious Schizophrenia can be. That is to say, that while in many cases this disorder may live traces of itself in childhood and adolescents, in some cases it occurs unexpectedly. Snyder details his normal childhood, including supportive parents, with little to no evidence of any sort of trauma or odd behavior; and yet he was still blindsided with the disease. I began to reflect particularly on how difficult this would be for clients experiencing these same circumstances. It will be essential for me as a counselor to recognize that
Rosenhan’s article On Being Sane in Insane Places brings up many important aspects professionals in the mental health field, and society as a whole, need to consider when treating those who experience mental illness. One of the important key concepts of this article illustrates the difficulty of determining who is “sane” and who is “insane”. This article mentions that those who are diagnosed with a mental illness are not encouraged to fully recover, but rather live in remission and become labeled in a very permanent manner. This type of labeling leads institutions and the professional staff who work for these institutions to consciously and unconsciously distance themselves from the patients (or in some case behave abusively
The creation of the profession of the mental health counseling was first founded in the 1900’s. However, the first mental health counse...
Randye Kaye had trouble 'fixing' her son because of incorrect diagnoses and inefficient procedures. Along with his mother, sister, and friends, I became disappointed how unsuccessful his treatments were, and I also became eager for Ben's mother to find something that actually worked. I thought to myself: "why can't you just get better?" This became an engraved thought in my head as Kaye began to deny and question Ben’s mental health. I noticed that when Kay refused to accept Ben’s Schizophrenia, and continued to search for counter-solutions, became an Achilles heel to the
Good Will Hunting is the graceful tale of a young gentleman’s struggle to find out where he belongs in the world, by first finding out who he himself is. In this film, Matt Damon takes on the role of a disturbed genius that has a keen understanding of the deepness of human character. The film is a voyage through the mind of Will Hunting as he is required to undergo psychotherapy as an alternative to serving jail time. With the assistance of a psychologist, played by Robin Williams, Will learns about himself and recognizes his individual worth in the world by comprehending what is most important to him in his own life. This motion picture serves as a source of superb example for film technique. Gus Van Sant’s directing ability joined with the writing skills of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, who also plays Will’s best buddy, Chuckie, is a vibrant mixture of technical features used to induce sentiment and compassion amongst the viewers of this heart-warming film. Characteristics of the color, angles, shots, camera movement, editing, and distortions are all each particularly noteworthy to the general composition of Van Sant’s Good Will Hunting.
The issue of how we should be educated and what we should learn in school is a highly talked about issue in the United States today. Should students go to school for twelve years? Do they need to all of these standardized tests to be a successful adult in society? Or issues such as grading and how it affects students. Good Will Hunting is a positive movie for a viewer, which shows the issue we see in schools and society today of being schooled or being well educated. Will Hunting is a janitor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is a rather quiet individual that doesn’t do much except clean the college and hang out with his friends. He does not go to college and instead is the janitor at one of the most prestigious
Mental illness is more common than one would like to believe. In reality, one in five Americans will suffer from a mental disorder in any given year. Though that ratio is about equivalent to more than fifty-four million people, mental illness still remains a shameful and stigmatized topic (National Institute of Mental Health, n.d.). The taboo of mental illness has an extensive and exhausting history, dating back to the beginning of American colonization. It has not been an easy road, to say the least.
“Was I ever crazy? Maybe. Or maybe life is… Crazy isn’t being broken or swallowing a dark secret. It’s you or me amplified.” Determining sanity wasn't always prominent; the studies of mental health and psychology have improved greatly since the late 1960’s, but some could argue that there are still many disorders we do not understand. This movie envelopes the problems and treatment of patients during this era. Not only in a time of economic and racial disturbance, but the stereotypes and inequality for women are exemplified during this motion picture.
Corey, G. (2011). Theory and practice of counseling and psychotherapy. (ninth ed., pp. 291-301). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole.
In the medical world, defining mental illness can be as equally diverse as an Olympic opening. Much negativity has gained in popularity and is not only directed towards the patient but also the psychiatrist and other mental health professionals who diagnose and then treat the many different issues that may come with these illnesses. How does one single issue bring together citizens, psychiatrists, and critics at a global level? And how does it tear them all apart, initiating verbal brawls over who is “right,” what is “real,” and if mental illness is not even real – is the stigma “all in our
A significant relationship in this text is the relationship between will and Marcus, will and Marcus develop a relationship throughout the text that help them function as human beings. Both characters need this relationship because will has no purpose for his life and Marcus needs the support from a male figure. Will is a 36 years old male who is single, selfish, Immature, is looking for single parents to take advantage of. Marcus on the other hand is a 12 year old boy, lives with his single mum, is bullied, abandoned by his friends, and finds it hard to fit in. These two characters are completely different in all aspects, but this only brings them closer. Will is reluctant to commit to a relationship and so when he finds Rachael who is just as reluctant as himself he has to start lying to her about him having a child so he can join a single parents group called SPAT, this is how Marcus is introduced to Will. Wills first impression of Marcus are that he is “weird kid”(Pg 46), he also thinks that Marcus acts older than he actually is whereas Will is an immature adult and people believe that he is just a child in a grownups body. As the text progresses the relationship that Marcus and will establish grows stronger and stronger. Because Marcus has no father f...