Paper Example on Crisis Counseling in the Good Will Hunting Movie

Introduction

The aspect of crisis counseling refers to the processing of trying to help a person to restore back the sense of control and self-worth after the event of a crisis or disasters that affect their lives. Usually, it is not abnormal that upon the occurrence of a crisis, it changes the normal coping capacities of most individuals (Perlman, Neufeld, Martin, Goy, & Hirdes, 2011). The victims may get overwhelmed emotionally and thus face difficulties in problem-solving and lack sufficient coping skills. In this case, lack of guidance and direction thus makes the victims to make an irrational decision that may end up harming their lives and those of others. Therefore, crisis counseling is significant and discrete as it as confided goals that enhance safety and the overall emotional stability of the victim therein. Ideally, the purpose of crisis counseling is to provide sufficient emotional support to the victim and further avail concrete assistance as well. Crisis counseling helps the victims to enhance their problem-solving skills in the particular period by providing the necessary resources therein. In this case, therefore, the paper aims at giving in-depth analysis of the significance of crisis counseling in the good will hunting movie.

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The Plot of the Movie

The Good will hunting movie revolves around a young man named Will Hunting from South Boston. Will Hunting is a genius working as a janitor at MIT. Further, Will spends most of the time drinking with his close friends Morgan, Billy, and Chuckie (Bender, Van, Escoffier, Weinstein, B., Weinstein, Gordon, Armstrong, 1997). The intention is talented in mathematics and chemistry which is portrayed after he solves complex mathematical computations, posted by Gerald Lambeau, a Professor at MIT. Will meets the girlfriend, Skylar, a British lady about to graduate from the Harvard University. Ideally, Will is a subject of child abuse by the foster father and thus has been at loggerheads with the law ever since. Furthermore, Will and the friend fight a gang that used to bully him as a child and this lands him to a police arrest. Upon the arrest, while Will almost sent to jail, Professor Gerald Lambeau bails him out under a condition. The condition provides that Will had to work with the professor for mathematics every week and further Will had to visit a therapist. Professor Gerald Lambeau realized the emotional problem that Will was undergoing and thus was designated to provide help. Will visits therapist Sean, who faced a similar childhood abuse as Will. Sean changes the life of Will through the various counseling sessions (Bender et al 1997).

Mental Health Crisis

The major crisis identified in the movie is the mental health crisis. According to Agar-Jacomb & Read, (2009), a mental health crisis refers to a threatening situation where a person tends to exhibit extreme emotional disturbance or behavioral distress that may harm them or others. People experiencing the mental health crisis tend to be disoriented, agitated, and challenging to calm them. Therefore, based on the plot of the good will hunting movie, it is clear that the major protagonist, Will Hunting was suffering from a mental health crisis. This was as a result of the past history that he faced in his childhood. He experience brutality and child abuse from the foster father and as a result, it created a mental condition that made Will suffer emotionally. Additionally, Sean, who appears to be Will Hunting's therapist, also faced similar childhood challenges as Will. Agar-Jacomb & Read, (2009) argue that mental health crisis results from genetic composition, environmental factors, personal stressors, and the family dynamic occurrences. Based on the case scenario, it is clear that Will Hunting mental health crisis was as a result of the environmental conditions and the family dynamic occurrences (Perlman et al 2011). The environment that Will hunting grew in was brutal and abusive. Besides, the foster, being a family figure to Will significantly contributed to the brutality and abuse.

Task-Centered Model for Intervention

The task-centered model of intervention refers to the psychological therapeutic practice that intends to be brief and produce quick change. It was developed by Reid and Epstein in the year 1972. This mode is practical and it is largely focuses on practices that help the victim solve the underlying problem (Roberts, 2000). Therefore, the task-centered model is majorly problem-solving oriented. In this model, the acumen on how and why the problem arose is not important but rather how to solve the problem. In this case, the model is based on the belief that it is practical to take the actions that generate the most sufficient results. In this case, it considers setting specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-limited (SMART) objectives. Upon setting the SMART objectives, the model provides that the practitioner and the client should act on them with immediate effect (Roberts, 2000). The model integrates various stages to attain successful result. The key stage is problem identification where the practitioner identifies a list of the client's problems. Secondly, both the practitioner and the client identify the common themes and sets the order of priority which the actions should follow. Then, the client and practitioner focus on the most important problems by setting goals that relate to these particular problems. Upon setting goals, the parties strive to solve the problem by taking the necessary action therein. When the problem is finally solved, the contract can be terminated if need arises. The key steps encountered in a task-centered approached helps create a good relationship between the therapist and the client and thus creating an avenue for better solutions (Roberts, 2000).

Application of the Task-Centered Model in Mental Health Crisis

Based on the analysis above, the task-centered model of intervention applies to the mental health crisis identified in the case scenario (Roberts, 2000). The case of Will hunting and the therapist Sean is a clear example of the task-centered approach. The process begins when Professor Gerald Lambeau refers Will Hunting to Sean, the therapist. Although Will is reluctant to attend the therapy sessions, he has no option since this is a condition he has to fulfill. Little did Will know that the session will be of great importance to his life. Sean begins by identifying the problem and finds that Will is subject to child abuse by the foster father. This shows that Will is suffering from mental disturbance (Agar-Jacomb & Read, 2009). Through various counseling sessions, Sean helps Will to recover. The stages that Sean and Will undergo are quite similar to the core stages of the task-centered model.

Conclusion

From the analysis above, it is clear that crisis counseling is significant in solving problems and restoring the sense of control to the affected persons. The good will hunting movie portrays Will Hunting as a character facing mental health crisis as a result of child abuse by the foster. Through the application of the task-centered model of intervention, Sean, the therapist helps Will Hunting to heal and recover from the emotional disturbance therein. The process shows that the task-centered intervention model is thus immediate and effective in solving psychological problems.

References

Agar-Jacomb, K., & Read, J. (2009). Mental health crisis services: What do service users need when in crisis?. Journal Of Mental Health, 18(2), 99-110. doi: 10.1080/09638230701879227

Bender, L., Van, S. G., Escoffier, J.-Y., Weinstein, B., Weinstein, H., Gordon, J., Armstrong, S. Buena Vista Home Entertainment (Firm). (1997). Good Will Hunting.

Perlman C. M, Neufeld E, Martin L, Goy M, & Hirdes JP (2011). Suicide Risk Assessment Inventory: A Resource Guide for Canadian Health care Organizations. Toronto, ON: Ontario Hospital Association and Canadian Patient Safety Institute.

Roberts, A. (2000). Crisis intervention handbook. Oxford: Oxford University Press.