Therapy Movies: Good Will Hunting
Good Will Hunting is probably my all-time “therapy movie”. Quick disclaimer: this is not exactly a depiction of a healthy therapist/client relationship (choking a client is off‑limits!) That being said, it’s a compelling story and the therapeutic relationship plays a key part in the main character’s journey of healing.
If you haven’t seen it, here’s a quick summary:
Good Will Hunting follows Will Hunting, a brilliant but troubled young janitor at MIT who secretly solves complex math problems in his spare time. After getting into a fight and facing jail time, he's given a second chance—on the condition that he works with a math professor and attends therapy. Enter Dr. Sean Maguire, a no-nonsense therapist with his own emotional baggage. What starts as a battle of wits slowly becomes a deeper relationship, as Sean helps Will confront the pain, fear, and unresolved trauma he's spent his life avoiding.
Whether you have seen the movie or not, you may know that the climactic (NSFW) moment comes when Sean, referring to Will’s childhood abuse, says to him over and over, “It’s not your fault. It’s not your fault.” At first, Will shrugs it off. “I know,” he says. He’s heard the words before. But as they’re repeated again—and again—he finally breaks. It’s like a wall falls down inside him because, for the first time, he lets the truth in.
Healing often happens—not with new information, but with permission to believe what we already know deep down. He knew the abuse wasn’t his fault. Now he feels it.
But what I find just as interesting is what happens next in the scene. It’s such a small moment that it’s easy to miss. As he is breaking down, Will says, “I’m so sorry.” Why does he say that? Is this his shame creeping back in? What is he sorry for?
If you have seen what comes before that, you know that Will is a pretty big mess of a person. Aside from his legal problems, he constantly lies and manipulates others. He gets close to his girlfriend only to push her away when things get serious. He has a small group of friends that would “lay down in traffic” for him, but even they are kept at a distance from his true self.
He is so afraid that if someone sees who he really is, they will see the bad person he truly believes himself to be.
So what is he sorry for? He’s sorry for how hurtful and distant he has been. He is sorry for how he has treated himself and others in light of the abuse he received. It’s only until he receives the kindness of “It’s not your fault” into his painful wounds that he can take responsibility for the pain he has caused.
I have found that the deepest wound left by trauma or abuse isn’t the pain of what happened, it’s the shame we carry afterward. Not just shame for what happened—but for what you were led to believe about yourself because of it.
And tragically, that belief often sticks around long after the abuse ends. Shame causes a lasting infection that spreads much farther than the initial wounding. We develop all sorts of ways to cope with this shame through addictions, manipulation, even abusing others.
So, while we do not carry responsibility for the abuse we received, we are responsible for what we do with it. And while we were powerless in the abuse that happened to us, we can find empowerment in recovering our true identify that had been lost to trauma.
It's called Good Will Hunting for a reason.
At McDaniel Counseling, we sit with people every day who are working through this very process. We believe you don’t have to carry the weight of shame forever. We believe healing is possible. And we believe you are worth the journey it takes to get there.
With care,
Ryan McDaniel, LPC
