Good Will Hunting scene Explained by Therapist | "I will end you" analysis

what happened why'd you leave you sure you know things a man again okay this is gonna be a mammoth video so let me keep the introduction as sure as I can like the title suggests I am a counselor I'm going to use the words counselor counseling for the most rather than therapist psychiatrist all sorts just to keep it simple and have consistency as you already know from the title we're going to analyze a scene from Good Will Hunting Shawn's first session with Will and we're going to pretty much do it line by line but first the disclaimers I'm not going to get bogged down discussing what specific trainings I think Shawn users because I don't think that's really relevant it's worth being pointing out here that there's a load of stuff Shawn does that I personally wouldn't do in my training but that's not what this is about if it works it works you know that's all that really matters there also although I'm going to draw on psychoanalysis a fair amount I'm not going to go mental deep with it because I want this video to be easily understood by everyone whether you work in the practice or whether you've never had counseling and don't know anything about it and I think counseling is more about forging a genuine healthy human relationship or for clients so as such I'm going to try and avoid the psychoanalytic jargon where I can because it would just confuse you as well and if you know it already then you'll know where it applies anyway welcome to my little four tree or by analyzing the very good film Good Will Hunting [Music] and I'm sorry to make this even longer but before we actually get started on the scene I do think it's worth a very quick look at the first two councilors will seize the ones who refused to see him again Henry and Richard so Henry session with will starts with will essentially making an interpretation based on some examples Henry gives in his fancy book of counseling and Mike was having the same problems that chaired the start broker was him absolutely right right on the button good for you well very nice thank you which kind of sums up Henry really self-indulgent if I had written a counseling book and a client came in and started interpreting something from my book I doubt I'd give him a pat on the head and say well done you understood my snooty clever book really well done it's patronizing to will which is not a great start at all because you really really need to establish trust with your client from the beginning why is trust the most important thing in making a breakthrough for the client but more importantly it's that which is Henry to be just what he looks like from his appearance full of himself he's supposed to be interested in will who he is not his own fancy book and how well will understands it it's self-indulgent and in a job that isn't supposed to be about you personally self-indulgence doesn't really ever help he then follows this by lecturing will the pressures and I'm not judging them I'm not labeling them but they are destroying your potential they're no more shenanigans no more tomfoolery no more ballyhoo I mean this is a horrendous thing to say not only to someone like will but to any client really it's the sort of thing a teacher or parent says the sort of thing authority figures say and as we know from the film will does not get on well with authority figures it's not the counselors role to lecture to tell you what to do the counselors role is to understand and consequently help the client better understand himself you're right by lecturing like that you're just giving off the message that you're not interested in understanding them that you've already decided what they're about despite the fact you barely know them that all you want is for them to behave I've talked more about Henry already deny intended so I'm not gonna say anything specific about the hypnotist Richard I'm just going to condemn the one real Fault in both of them after Henry's kicked will out he tells Jerry hey you know something I can't do this problem because more is just not it's not worth it and equally when Richard kicks will out he says better things to do with my time as far as I'm concerned that's not how counseling works you don't just pick and choose your clients depending on who's worth your time how high in my tea do you have to think yourself to decide that anyway the job is about helping people whoever they are not just the easy ones who will make you look good at your job but the difficult ones too you help them to because that's what the job is helping it's no surprising that since Henry Richard both favorable because they clearly don't care and I should caveat that though by saying that there are obviously situations when you have a client that is too difficult for you to handle that you all not experienced enough for or you think the client needs a specific specialist or something obviously in those situations you refer the client on but you try to do it tactfully and you work with the client in the process what you never do is just chuck someone out because I have better things to do with my time but anyway to the scene it starts with will walking down the stairs seeing through the glass that Jerry and tom-toms this guy are already in there with Shaun before him Jerry's explaining this wrong it's a poker game on this kid normally I don't think you'd really want a session to start like this the client arriving to find you talking to his professor or you know his parents teachers whoever is the authority figures that often gives the client an uneasy feeling of what [ __ ] are they spreading about me Jerry warns Shaun though that he's probably read your book and as will Enders Shaun replaced the disc by joking I found a fine which is quite a nice thing for will to hear really it's just a simple little parallel the film makes between Sean and Henry who was full of himself about his book where Sean isn't folks are gonna be a key thing in the scene but anyway it's just a small quite nice thing for will to hear right off the bat so in comes will Jerry introduces them as Shaun gets up to say hi offers his hand for a handshake that gets rejected as will just clunks himself down into the seat Sean doesn't actually respond to this he just watches for a moment waiting to see if wills gonna say anything Sean you'll notice when you compared to latest scenes in the film is actually fairly passive in his first meeting with will which i think is right he doesn't know this kid at all and unlike Henry he's not going to presume to know nor to judge him in said he's gonna just largely listen and take will in absorb who he is it's an incredibly powerful thing when someone does that compared to those situations where you're just talking to someone and you can sense they're not listening or they're just waiting for their chance to speak or judging you it's incredibly powerful when someone just goes I'm just gonna sit back a little and give you space to take the reigns just absorb everything I can anyway we'll see more of that as it unfolds for now Sean says nothing and it's Jerry who suggests let's get this started yeah let's do it I'm pumped so the healing begin he's mocking therapy obviously but it's a mockery that's made specifically because Jerry says let's get this started the point is there's something very sciency and technical about starting a session with let's get started as though you're about to initiate some great fancy healing process it's like people who in sessions by saying I think we're making good progress that makes me cringe a little because counseling should be more human and down-to-earth than that Sean style makes it feel more like an ordinary friendly chat even when there is more going on under the surface but that's a side note we'll smocking what he expects Sean's counseling to be like and Sean accepts the mockery he's just listening and observing for one and the two he's got a bigger issue right now which is getting Tom and Jerry out of the room he asks them to leave now this is so obvious that I shouldn't really have to even comment on it you can't have a session with two other people in the room you just can't if it's group or Family Therapy and that sort of thing that's different if you're working with the little kids there are various reasons you might want the parents to sit in or something but hey no absolutely not you know this is supposed to be will save space to open up emotionally how could he ever do that with his professor sitting there it's it's bad counseling more than anything else is about trust and we'll need you to trust that this is his space his space to talk about whatever he wants and it's also ideal in this specific instance that Sean tells him to leave because Jerry doesn't really care about will as a person we see that later in the film all he really cares about his making will behave so that he can do all the high-level mouths Jerry wants him to by telling them to leave Sean showing I'm not the same as them - I'm here to help you not just do what Jerry wants and make you behave so now the session actually begins I said this is going to be a long video I didn't lie I did warn you the Shan starts with an ordinary friendly smile and says I will ignores the question and isn't even looking at Shan for clients who feel the most offensive or resistant to counselling this sort of thing is common wills essentially avoiding falling into Shantz dialogue that's a game of power you know if we're going to talk I'm going to be the one who dictates the topics not you because obviously if she wants the one dictating the topics of conversation there's the fear it might very quickly lead to some deep very penetrative questions about trauma and childhood and that sort of stuff that will doesn't want to talk about so we'll can't let that happen Shawn accepts Willick doing this and asks another question where you're from in Southie which is meant as a friendly icebreaker really because that's also actions from but again we'll ignores it because we'll needs to feel in control here but also there's something else worth touching on here and explaining now so we don't have to stop later on and cram it in then and that is to know how much will attacks Shawn in this scene just like he attacks the past two counselors making a mockery of them humiliating them to some degree attacking people is what will has done his entire life I mean think about it will grew up with a violently abusive stepdad to him his stepdad is the big evil monster who made wilful broken and vulnerable in ways he can't even bear to think about that's what which one can stick in your mind if you aren't given space to process it you start to fear that same sort of evil monster with everyone else that unless you toughen up when I saw it your own strength they'll abused you and make you feel vulnerable again in all the same ways so will attacks people he can't risk being attacked by them being thrown back into how things used to be if his stepdad so he attacks them before they get the chance to do that to him attack is the best form of Defense quite literally in this scenario now does that mean he imagines Shawn might turn around at some point and no obviously not but like I said about the threat of Shawn asking all sorts of penetrative questions about his traumatic past those questions would feel like an attack for well it's not a physical attack but and emotional or verbal one psychological it conjures up the same feelings the same experience being made to feel vulnerable and broken beneath another and you actually see that a little bit in his argument with Skylar when he uses care at home she asks the sort of questions - do you feel like an attack for will and as such he has to fight back and trample her down leaving her feeling like the broken vulnerable one instead of him so anyway having ignored Shawn we'll now plays the role of dictating the conversation by saying like what you've done with the place Thanks he's being condescending of course will doesn't really know anything about Shawn yet so if he wants to attack him a good place to start would be by attacking his room Shawn's office and so naturally an extension of Shawn to some degree do you buy all these books retail and you send away for like a shrink kit that comes with all these volumes included I mean it's a pretty good jab that one I think there's a saying or if not there should be one that there's often a hint of truth in the jokes we make one of the counselors functions is to try it and read the emotional messages behind the words the message here might read something like I don't believe you've read all these books I believe it's just some false effects you're creating to look smart and if you dig deep but that message is sort of saying you don't feel like a genuine person who I can connect with maybe Shawn picks up on these hidden meanings but it is hard to early on in the first session because you're still getting used to the client if he does pick up on it though he doesn't comment because it would kind of feel invasive too much like an attack to do that sort of thing right now like I said all the first session is about is absorbing who will is so Shawn just smiles passively accepting the joke without taking any offense and asks in a friendly way correct box personally I think there's something quite competitive or confrontational about the eye contact and body language we'll hear to him it's not just a friendly chat about books it's a game of power a game of have you read as much as me are you as smart as I am and let's just look at this a bit you know what any of these books if this is a competition in wills eyes technically he's losing now because he hasn't read those books but he says probably not with a derisive laugh as though of course he hasn't read them he knows better than to waste his time on those pathetic books which is really just a clever way of turning his defeat into a victory here but the ones on the top shelf here he does and honestly you could argue this isn't Shawn being particularly friendly anymore because it is a bit odd how much he pushes the point about the books will was read you can see why it might come across confrontational or competitive so I mean what is Shawn doing why does he keep asking about the books why does he keep pushing that point well the way I see it Shawn is trying to be friendly will initiate the conversation about books before then moving to light a cigarette so rather than letting the conversation die away as will focuses on his cigarette he's trying to keep it going Will has dictated the topic by books and Shawn happily accepts to stick to that topic what I also think could be going on here is an attempt to effectively address an elephant in the room that will is no ordinary client he's a genius who has indeed read a ton of books with an incredible ease and memory Shawn is in some ways clearing the air on this fact I know you're a genius I know you've read extensively so let me ask in a friendly indirect way about your geniusness I think geniusness is the word and yeah you can say that if that's what Shawn's doing it's an odd indirect way of going about it but Shawn has already asked to direct questions at this point and both of them were ignored so maybe an indirect approach is better right now and I'd say it is because will will does respond though he glances off of the shelf and says Erin good for you what do you think about hey I'm not here for a [ __ ] book report that your books why are you real in Wills mind he's interpreted this conversation like it's a book report like Shawn is trying to be some English teacher testing the knowledge of his lowly student the fact we'll sees it that way is interesting he adds to the whole game of power idea because it's hard for imagine that they could have a simple friendly conversation right now it's hard for him to imagine he doesn't need to play a game of power to assert his dominance in any situation with anyone let me reference one biased opinion who gave a beautiful reply to a comment I write about this scene elsewhere on YouTube it's a reflection of what he's seen all his life people who are áfourá figures looked down on him for any number of reasons holding up their accomplishments and possessions as wolves that he can't possibly overcome that's why he sees it like a big football because in his eyes Shaun is just another authority figure out to crush or belittle will thanks to his unique mind however will has exactly the right tools to fight back against this and takes great pleasure in doing so that's the game of power of will he uses his geniusness to outsmart everyone else to humiliate them that's not how it has to be though it doesn't need to be a war or a game of power with every interaction but anyway I'm half repeating myself there's two let's move on the other thing we see in that line is will dictating the topic of conversation again talking about books is good it's safe it doesn't feel too personal but now we would rather they directed the book conversation back towards Shaun let's have less about the books I've read and more about the ones you have in some ways it's a very small moment of turning the counseling against the counselor will wants to see if Shaun is comfortable answering the sort of questions he expect will to answer and the conclusion that your box one area I did I had to yeah he is you know Shawn isn't boasting about his intelligence like we'll expects him to normal easy self indulging like Henry did nor is he trying to prove himself smarter and to look down and will he's he's just being honest I read those books not because I wanted to but because I had to for my training to reference one biased opinions reply again these books aren't shown superiority statement and they're not insurance reply here he's making that point very clear to will and you might notice of course that this also loops back to answering the first question will ask do you buy all these books retail and you send away for like a shrink kit that comes with all these volumes included and Sean is now pretty much saying I did read them all but not for the effect simply because I had to must have taken you a long time yeah I did Sean says again not as a boast there's a sigh as he says this it was hard work he didn't particularly enjoy now there's always something my tutor used to say about counseling that whenever something ODS or big or interesting happens in the session try and remember and though it's the thing that happened right before it however small or inconsequential it may seem you know what set it off because right after Sean saying that there's an interesting pause where will looks at Sean not in a confrontational way now but actually looks at him as though Sean is a real person then he looks at his books before springing out of his chair to get a better view of them but it's a very small very brief moment of connection between them sean has said something that wheel hasn't tried to bat away to ridiculed outsmart or ignore Sean has said something that he's actually taken in it's just a brief moment though I mean of course it's brief this is the first session will expects confrontation and games of power with everyone he encounters you're you're not going to change that after one simple comment he reads one book on the Shelf he shakes his head a little then notices a picture of Sean in the Army now he doesn't comment on his army photo at all there's grounds to see it differently but I think he doesn't comment because it's an area of expertise where Sean outranks will logically if will doesn't want to be out smiled he's not going to bring up a topic of conversation where Sean knows more than him what he does comment on however is the books he says we want to read a real history book read Howard Zinn's people's history in the United States that book if I could knock better than Chomsky's manufacturing consent you think that's a good book now we can question each on getting involved in the game of power is he competing with wills intellect here and really you can look at the one or two ways maybe it's a bit of both either he's showing will that he has some firmness that he can't just be pushed over and trampled on you know if you want to start spouting about the books you've read I can keep up and that's probably a good thing but like I've said you can also see this as Shawn getting drawn into wills game of power because this is something else worth taking a moment to explained we make happen the stuff we fear will happen or as people often sum it up we the architects of our own demise Darren brown if you know him always talks about the little stories we tell ourselves about who we are we tend to dwell on our past and we think they somehow define who we are but our pasts are just stories that we tell ourselves in the present yes when we say I'm this sort of person because this happened to me or I'm a lucky person or an unlikely person whatever it is they're just stories and we can be more skeptical of those stories if it helps us see if this were the start of a film and it said based on a true story you would know that the events that we're gonna happen in that film we're not real events exactly as they happened but a kind of tidied up version with an each beginning middle and an end and so on yes you'd be naturally skeptical in the same way you come and see this show you know that I'm gonna sometimes sell you a story that isn't quite true because that's what we've agreed to yes you are naturally skeptical we forget to apply the same natural skepticism to the most important stories we have the ones we tell ourselves every day about who we are and we can choose to change those stories to simplify one of wills little stories you could say it's that people with power will be abused and make me vulnerable if I give them the chance that's when we step there dudes that's what I've grown up knowing people with power out to break me and like I've already said he acts to try and stop this happening by asserting his own power railing against those with authority to beat down them before they can beat him that's the defense but the thing is as a contradiction we make happen the things we fear will happen by railing against those with power he draws them into retaliation they get wound up enough by attacks that want to fight back and we see that throughout the film the cops he hits him back the judge he argues with sends him down the councilors kicked him out and even Shaun will grab them by the throat near the end of this scene so yeah will ignores the question and just says can people bear for me I mean there is a bit of sting in that you people they're not quite real almost robotic therapists he started walking around the edges of the room now as well which clients can often do in the first session it's a thing of testing the space really similar to animals you know partly checking the surroundings are safe partly let's say leaving your scent a certain your dominance over it spend all your money on these [ __ ] fancy boxes surround yourselves with sneers which you notice is a return to his first question about the trinket he's cycled back to that same point which clients or well all of us do a lot but anyway it's an interesting point will makes that now deserve some close attention the implication of surrounding yourselves with the books implies the books are armor like Shaun's created a fortress out of his boots to defend himself and all you have to do is ask the question well why would we'll see Shawn's books like that and it's because will is familiar with the idea of surrounding yourself with books as a defense aka it's exactly what wheel does we'll tries to hide all his pain behind his genius turn all the great authors he reads into his defense sometimes the things we attacking others are the things we notice in ourselves sometimes the things we attack in others are a way of attacking the parts of the selves we don't like and if you want to take this line even further think about the [ __ ] ponytail bloke in that bar who in a much more exaggerated way than well also hides behind the defensive spokes and clever lines Israeli evolution of the market economy in the southern colonies now think about the famous park bench scene where shawntel's will ask you about why you probably throw Shakespeare at me right once more into the breach dear friends you never been near one he's telling will the exact thing will tells that they kept bloke do you have any thoughts of your own on this matter the exact thing will is currently sneering at Sean for surrounding himself for books I can't learn anything from you I can't read in some [ __ ] book unless you want to talk about you but anyway the line goes further than I spend all your money on these [ __ ] fancy books you surround yourselves with them that they're wrong [ __ ] books you know he's mirrored wills language here showing that he's perfectly comfortable with swearing with will talking however he wants to talk in a way you can imagine Henry wouldn't be comfortable but also this is God knows how many times will his insult with Sean so far and not once as Sean got offended he just asks to know what the right books are to learn more about will to understand the books will approves of wills not going to let himself get drawn into opening up anything personal about himself oh so he just responds with the deadstock phrase hey whatever blows your hair back which is sure and showing his humor again and this whole time will has been smoking a cigarette but Sean waits until an opening to comment on it I mean you could have interrupted while talking earlier to point out the rule we can't have smoking in here but he doesn't because will was expressing something at the time and Sean's main job right now is to listen and absorb will a you know be very athletic it's a much more passive way of establishing a rule than just stating you can't smoke in here in that sense will wants to smoke five it helps to assert his dominance particularly now Sean's asked him not to I mean what better way to assert your power than to ignore what you've been asked to do so will deliberately ignores the instruction read Sean's message solely as a joke yeah I know I really guess I am a yoga and that's all that said about this for all which is fine you know this is the first session Sean's pointed out the rule but he doesn't expect will to follow it yet this isn't the time for that you know I'm giving him space to express who he is and if a part of that is to express rebellion then that's okay you work out what you left says will directing Sean's own question right back on him even sits back in his seat and gives Sean clear eye contact Sean passively accepts the table being turned again and answers the questions happily yeah there nihilus three ways oh really yeah free weights huh yeah big time yeah just like that what do you bench 285 what do you bench like I said earlier either you can see this positively as Sean showing where we can keep up with his competition and game of power or you can see it negatively that he allows himself to get sucked into the game at all but let's think about wills reaction to this Sean just outdid we'll beat him in competition physical competition as well and will reacts by essentially sticking the knife in well first ignore Sean's question you paint it once he realizes that Sean painted it himself he realizes this could be one of Sean's weak spots this is my point about the negative of getting drawn into wills game of power firstly because if you retaliate will then has to retaliate back himself escalating the situation to a whole nother level as we're about to see secondly it plays into that little story running in the back of wheels minds that everybody is out to be abused and taken down how you helped break that narrative is by not taking part in it yourself by demonstrating that not every interaction will has has to end that same way it's no criticism of Sean that it gets drawn into the game of power though because that's what happens it takes an incredible awareness and patience to resist the kind of roles the clients can sort of unconsciously pressure you into playing yeah music the painting does mean something personal to Sean and he feels wary of an attack coming hence all these quickfire questions you know trying to distract will from the painting trying to bring him away from it back to their conversation you can even hear a little tension in his voice so a piece of [ __ ] Sean takes it on the chin because well I mean he should if Sean gets upset a lonely encourage will because it would reveal just how much of a week's what it is if Shawn gets angry it'll only escalate the game of power to a higher level if Shawn acts like he doesn't care and pretends it means nothing we'll we'll keep digging deeper trying to really hurt Shawn so Shawn does what you should do in this situation now he accepts it he absorbs the blow rather than deflecting it oh well tell me what you really think mister the linear an impressionistic mix makes a very muddled composition and it's here Shawn finally gets out of his chair I've touched on the physical game that's being played out in Wills movements around the room but I haven't directly addressed it yet the center of the room sitting in those two chairs is where the session happens that's where Shawn asks questions about will and will is supposed to open up about stuff that makes him emotional as I've already said though will wants to avoid this sort of conversation and one good way of avoiding it is to physically avoid the middle of the room and to avoid sitting in that chair it's a bit like delaying the session from actually starting and now he's even been able to get Shawn out of the center of the room it's also a Winslow home and ripoff except he got way too you rollin above there again when Shawn tries to absorb the blow passively hit me hard one day it wasn't very good will isn't done however that's not really what concerns me though what concerns you just the colouring you know the real [ __ ] of it is paint-by-number he interrupts like he's hoping you'll deter Wolfram attacking is a color mine oma because the colors are fasten anything are they really more humor again perhaps it's a little too much here because it sounds slightly sarcastic you know self-deprecating humor is fine because it's attacking yourself not the client sarcasm not so effective it's not an issue really it's just a bad bit a few minutes isn't quite land and causes wheel to swing round and say I think you're about one step away from cutting your [ __ ] ear off this is will straight up frightening testing Shawn I mean I know it's a van Gogh reference with a bit of humor but will is still telling Shawn to step back here and when someone threatens you like that in real life you might be inclined to step back and apologize aka will wins or to stand firm and fret and wheel back aka escalate things but Shawn finds the third option again which is to accept the threat without showing any submission think I should move to the south of France change my name to Vincent anyway wills criticized the technical skill of the painting to minimal success but he's seen enough from Sean's flinching and the fact it's got him out of the chair that clearly there is something personal about this painting so now he tries interpreting it emotionally who ever heard the saying any part on this time yeah and this is a key moment because it's again turning the counseling on the counselor something important to say is we tend to make others feel the way we feel we'll make sure and feel the way we'll fear Sean we'll make him feel if if you can follow what I just said Will's idea of what a counselor will do is rip apart his life with a very deep clinical interpretation that punctures right to the center you know really dice Xu in reality no good counselor ever does that because you're not trying to cause your client to have a breakdown you're you're careful when and how deep to interpret things because you want your client to be able to take it in you you want it to be a thing of positive growth not something that destroys them naturally though there they can be this fear that the counselor might destroy you at any moment with some crazy deep interpretation that's what will expect Sean to do so he turns that same thing against him will makes the sort of invasive painful interpretation that he expects Warren will make about him and maybe you're in the middle of a storm a big [ __ ] star yeah this guy's falling on your head the waves are crashing over your little boat the oars are about to snap you're just pissing your pants you're crying for the harvest or maybe you do what you gotta do to get out now maybe you became a psychologist if you watch Sean during this you can see he feels uncomfortable so you know will is at least partly right I would say the part he's right about is that it is a very sad painting the expresses a lot of loneliness and a feeling of being lost the big storm the waves crashing oars about the snap rules right there personally I'd imagine the painting is more to do with Sean's mourning after his wife's death I'd guess that's when he painted it that's why it is only one person in the boat who feels lonely and lost and without any direction without his wife Sean feels lost at sea will gets that bit wrong though and this is what's very interesting about it will imagines Shawn was lost at sea in his younger life while he was still growing up when he fainted they're still figuring out what to do of his life what career path to take and he felt lost so he just settled for whatever first came to mind becoming a psychologist for that interpretation doesn't not say more about will than Shawn considering Will's position in his film you know he's still growing up he feels lost in his life sure he's happy of his friends and he has a good time but he knows he's a genius who could do so much more but what more what job does will follow or what love you can do anything you want you are bound by nothing what are you passionate about what do you want well Phil's afraid to really take any leaps in his life so he settles for the simplest most obvious thing live in the safe little world where no one challenges you and you're scared [ __ ] stay in Boston surrounded by the same friends live in the same house doing simple jobs and never dare leave if anyone's a port in a storm it's will and so in trying to attack Shawn Will has inadvertently revealed the exact sort of feelings that he's so afraid to show bingo I said again passively accepting rules attack when we do my job now you starve I mean come on which is his attempts to bring them both back to the chairs and actually start the session like okay you've got your attacks in you've asserted yourself a bit I've given you space to do that so now let's get back to the actual work have you married the wrong one maybe you should watch your mouth will gets an attack that finally does lands like he was hoping for Shawn's wife and you see that faint grin Will's got as he turns to face Shawn again because this is what he's wanted all the time to get under Shawn's skin to get him angry so that he kicks will out another council of defeated by the great will watch about their chief all right will turns his face back to the painting again and continues because he's close now a little further push a little more and he'll have his victory he married their own what happened once you leave you sure you know hang some and again there's genuine fear in wills face right now which is unsurprising I mean you would be scared shitless if your counselor of all people attacked you more so of course you could say will knows this experience all too well from his step that may be this right now evoke similar feelings in him that sense of dread and helplessness you might have felt was the kid there's a nice change you see in wills face though as this moment plays out he goes from that sense of dread to a cold defensive kind of numbness his eyes go a bit dead like it's walled the feeling off now he stares coldly at Shaun and announces him and if we're talking about a game of power again will has won and the look of slight horror on Shawn's face as he realizes what he's just done then the sadness that follows shows shows world was one he got everything he wanted he affected Shaun and brought an end to the session he leaves somewhere triumphantly while Shaun is left brooding over his painting so there's a few more things to explain before we can end one is some added context as the why will tried to end the session and the other is what separates the ending here to the ending in Henry's and Richard sessions now in terms of why we'll try to get himself chucked out I've said a lot on it already but there's rarely ever just one reason for anything so let me add an extra one one that I think is almost always important when you do get clients who want to end sessions it's the fact will expects people to give up on him abandon him leave him turn against him you might find out some about me you don't like and you know maybe you wish you hadn't said that but you know it's such a serious thing you can't take it back and now I'm stuck in California someone doesn't really want to be with me just wish they had to take back this is part of the little story in the back of wills mind people abandoned me leave me turn against me you have enough experiences of that in your life particularly if it's in your childhood and you start to expect it from every single relationship you're in whether that's from an tic family/friends teacher even therapists being abandoned is scary and very painful it's not something you want to experience again in the future so how do you defend yourself against it well first you try not to get too close to anyone but second if it turns out you are getting close you abandon them before they can abandon you save yourself the real pain by ending things early like you know how we'll end it with Scylla and on that yeah so that's a pattern in Wills life you could argue with me here and say but surely that's the opposite of what's happening with the counselor because we'll doesn't kick himself out they kick him out they are the ones who abandoned and give up on him and yes they do and that's partly because we'll has to go to counseling by order and to judge so he can't leave himself you know the counselor has to make him leave but also he's made them kick him out before any relationship is built up before they could get close to him before such time where it would be painful to be kicked out it's a bit like he's saying when people get to know the real me they hate me and give up on me so I might as well shown in my worst straight away so we can get this over and done with you know if you're going to kick me out do it now thirdly there's the fact we are like I said the architects of our own demise we make happen the things we fear will happen we do that because it proves we right if your little story is that people abandon you you might wind them up until they lose the temper and abandon you so you can then say AHA I knew it people always do abandon me I was right all along or why is the whole world so cruel to me it's what we're used to its familiar and that makes it seem kind of safe in a way even if it's what we fear as well and fourth there's the fact you can turn that painful feeling of being abandoned into something less painful into a triumph will does that he's pleased to be kicked out because it means has got one over on Shawn he's smarter he's better any kind of emotional sparring match because it's Shawn who comes away feeling upset and angry not will and that's a very shallow victory doubt but it's enough of a victory to hide the deeper pain that no one can never stand me so the final thing what separates Sean from Henry and Richard we know Sean's about a council and we've seen him achieve much more already I mean think about it he did actually get a bit of genuine dialogue with will at times he has learned a few small things like particular books will likes and reads the fact he lives the facts they can have small moments shared humor the fact we'll knows about our and everything will has inadvertently revealed for his interpretation of the painting and they do have moments where they do sort of get along even if will does quickly revert back to his defensive nough so if it wasn't for the whole grabbing him by the throat thing it might not have been a bad session what he does grab him by the throat in in the session which is even worse than just kicking them out so doesn't it all come to the same conclusion as them anyway no it doesn't because this is what really separates Sean from them this is where we come back to everything I criticized both those counselors for earlier they don't give a [ __ ] about will where Sean does because Jerry comes back in and Sean tells him Thursday at 4 o'clock make sure the kids here that's the difference even when wheel drive Sean to violence into a night spent drinking in depression even then Sean will still see him again now what does that say to someone who expects to be abandoned Sean won't give up on him no matter what I mean if you don't give up on someone after all that after seeing will at his very worst how will you ever give up that's an incredibly powerful thing to experience because sure it is important to set boundaries and sean has a very clear boundary now that will point dare break again don't disrespect his wife but even when he does even one will show Sean he's absolutely worst I will still be here to see you I won't hold a grudge I will forgive and we will move forwards together it's powerful to see someone would care that much Sean cares and what's more it breaks the cycle it breaks the endless pattern in shows will that they can be other ways to interact with people that it can be possible to have an open relationship without it ending in abandon them and it also gives off another incredibly a message that we could all do with learning at some point in our lives when things break down and go wrong they can be repaired you know when you fall out with someone you can pick up and get on again when you have an argument with your girlfriend you can resolve it and come back into love and when you even drive your counselor to the point of violence you can still repair and carry on that's the simple message things can be repaired we're all told that as kids but some of us are unfortunate and don't experience it and if you don't experience it then just being told things can be repaired doesn't really mean much at all but we are capable of genuine true repair even if we don't believe it yet and sometimes you just need the experience of a relationship being repaired fully repaired where the old wounds aren't even ones you dragged up again to give you that belief Shawn's done that for will now to manage even that small little thing for someone else's life can be immense so I said this will be a long one didn't I thanks for sticking around this is a reupload where I've had to remake the entire video again because the original clips and audio got lost it wasn't the best quality anyway I do feel going for it again though that I didn't criticize Sean as much as I could have done because he's not perfect and if you ever did physically attack a client I mean that would be it you'd be struck off it would be a terrible thing so you have to keep in mind this is a movie it's not real life exactly even if there's a lot of stuff we can analyze and draw from here that would just like real life it's still a movie in that sense thanks for watching thanks for being here like the video if you enjoyed it subscribe if you fancy it and hopefully see you next time

Channel: My Little Thought Tree

Views: 1,597,981

Rating: 4.9060583 out of 5

Keywords: good will hunting, good will hunting scene, good will hunting analysis, good will hunting explained, good will hunting reaction, good will hunting video essay, analysis, explained, video essay, videoessay, robin williams, matt damon, therapy scene, i will end you, miramax, bench scene, first session, therapist explains, therapy explained, scene explained, my little thought tree, good will hunting therapist scene, good will hunting robin williams, therapist, therapy, psychology

Id: fsIbs7mR0CE

Length: 41min 59sec (2519 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 15 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/Shirowoh]

Fascinating view from a professional therapist.

[u/BuckyOFair]

Really impressed by this