Good Will Hunting and Cognitive Therapy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Good Will Hunting and Cognitive Therapy - Essay Example This avoidance again reinforces his negative thinking and strengthens his fears, and eventually the fear becomes a permanent part of his thoughts, emotions and behavior which increases his social and personal problems (Wright, Basco & Thae, 2006, p.4). The movie ‘Good Will Hunting’ is about a young man, who, because of his painful and lonely past, refuses to face the fears which are buried deep inside him, and how a psychology professor, Sean, helps him to deal with his fears by revealing his fears which are hidden under the mask of confident personality. 1) Professor Sean takes Will to a park and talks about Will’s behavior pattern. He says that by portraying a confident, knowledgeable and strong personality, he stops others from looking deep into the ‘real’ person. He tells Will that his lonely life and painful past affects him and the inferior complex that he has about his personal life keeps him from making new friends. Sean says that the fear of new life and social challenges has kept him from going out of Boston. However, to hide this fear and inferior complex, he uses his intellectual abilities to impress people and tries to show as if he does not think that people are capable of understanding him. 2) In one of the sessions, Will tells Sean that he is dating a girl. When asked if he called her again, Will tells Sean that he is in no hurry as he thinks that she is interesting as long he does not get close to her. He assumes that she might not be as smart as he is and hence, does not want to get disappointed by knowing her. However, Sean makes Will realize