Therapist Reacts to Good Will Hunting (1997) 

"it's not your fault" always makes me cry.

As soon as he said the first "It's not your fault", I started ugly crying in anticipation. Props to Dr. Honda for holding it together

I think this movie has done so much to decrease stigma in men. I have a number of clients who reported this is the only acceptable conception of therapy they have ever had.

The film that made me a therapist.

I finally found a therapist that actually LISTENS to me! She doesn't laugh if I say something awkward that may be found funny in some way. She doesn't ask me the cliche bullshits, "How does that make you feel? What do you want out of therapy? Have you been taking your meds?" She listens, she doesn't care if I curse like a sailor or if I don't wanna talk that day. I actually feel..okay during a session. But I am an iceberg so to speak. There's a lot of things I have probably suppressed underneath that even I, myself , an not aware of. I guess I'm still guarded up..

I would never skip a lecture if I would have such an excellent lecturer like you.

You describe this, almost artistically; it’s the art of therapy, in a sense. It is a beautiful way to to hear it described, and in conjunction with a beloved film. It’s very reassuring to see such devotion, reverence and passion. So thanks for doing these.

Great analysis, Kirk. You do this so well....the way the therapist moves between different aspects of his own authenticity, telling Will he’s just a kid, but also respecting him enough to acknowledge that Will’s words affected him deeply, and following this by admitting to having been so vulnerable to a woman that he was leveled by her eyes. A lot of give and take and it earned Will’s respect. It also kind of exemplifies how to allow someone to see your vulnerability without dropping all of your own boundaries. Loved this movie.

How about doing 'react' to Dr. Hannibal lecter's therapies in Hannibal..., 😬

Your videos are so helpful... even the reactions to things I’ve never seen, although I’ve seen this film and absolutely love it. So grateful to have found your channel. Thank you for what you do.

I had a client who literally called me a "phone s-x operator" that they paid for my time and demanded it when they wanted it. After a while I started to let too much happen and they became really abusive. I believe it taught me about my own past trauma of taking verbal abuse. So I had to stop contact.

Oh, this is one of my favourite movies. Can't wait to hear your thoughts on it!!

Thanks for reacting to this great film. That scene always makes me cry and triggers me, because at that moment, I know exactly how Will is feeling.

I didn’t know I needed this today, thank you. Happy Mother’s Day to all the mommies out there 😊

WHEN YOU'VE BEEN WATCHING Dr. Kirk Honda's Reacts for WEEKS AND REALIZE HE'S AS BIG OF AN ELLIOTT SMITH FAN AS YOU !!! I have a big tattoo of Elliott on my forearm. His music helped me trough the darkest times in the past 16 years. He should have gotten an Oscar for "Miss Misery", his Song in Goodwill Hunting, not Celine Dion, that year. Anyway, love your reactions Dr. Kirk Honda.

these videos has made me realize how terrible my therapists have been, and I've been through at least 5

Thank you for breaking down the breakthrough scene. I couldn’t understand it for the longest time. I love this movie because in a way, it’s everybody’s story on some level. Will’s story was on an extreme side. However, we all go through traumas in one way or another.

I watched this movie a few days ago for the first time, and was thinking what your thoughts would be. And now you made this video! How is it even possible? 😯

someone took me to see this movie thinking i was going to feel related somehow, he thought i was damaged bc i couldn't say i love you to him, he never thought i couldn't say it bc i didn't felt it .he even tried to force it out of me, maybe thinking i was going to enter into a catharsis like Will and he was going to cure me, lol, Freud enthusiasts. nevertheless i love this movie.

Love your perspective on this! I’ve heard many clinicians shit on this movie by pigeonholing on the self-disclosure and boundary violations. You have really inspired me to explore the humanistic and existential perspectives, and I love that you aren’t afraid to challenge the evidence-based rhetoric that’s ground into us in school. I cried during that last scene, but I also cried when you explained how even when we know intellectually that abuse isn’t our fault, there is still a deep emotional layer. Thank you for all of your wonderful content!!

Sooo stoked to watch this but I can remember an even earlier film that depicted therapy in a positive light. Dr. Honda, can you react to Ordinary People, starring Donald Sutherland, Timothy Hutton and Mary Tyler Moore. So many psychological intricacies!!

This movie is what first interested me in becoming a licensed counselor!! I love it so much

I've seen this so many times and it never fails to make me cry. The acting is so good and I can really relate to it.

Even thought most of your viewers seem to watch your 90 DF videos, I for one would really like more of this content

I was just looking for a psychology review of Good Will Hunting, so thank you for your perfect timing of this video. It’s such a fantastic movie and this was a great explanation and dissection of the scenes.

Love these reaction videos! Good Will Hunting is one of my favorite movies. This was a nice surprise! Today is my birthday and I will be incorporating this video into my birthday routine! lol

Good Will Hunting, the film that turns me into an emotional mess.

Your analysis put another layer of emotion to that beautiful movie. 🙂 I would like to know your opinion on the tv serie In Treatment featuring Gabriel Byrne. I really liked that show and watched it twice.

"You deserve a therapist like Robin Williams, apart from strangling you" = a perfect summary. Inspiring. Thank you for sharing this.

Man, I teared up again. The sheer number of people who have been affected so profoundly by this scene indicates just how many of us live our lives carrying devastating wounds, myself included.

I've had many many pherapist in my life because my father abused me since i was i kid until i moved out when i was 17. I ran away from home alot, i had to live with my grandparents and friends. Now i am going thrue PTSD treatment and it is hard. I'm still self abusive and have suicidal thoughts. I tried to commit suicide in my 20s and still have to live on. It is really hard tight now and i can't sleep. I try to understand why i am feeling like this right now and look up things that may answer my questions. So one of my favorite movies is Good Will Hunting and that is how i came to watched this video. Great video and it sounds like you are a great therapist. Keep going!

I really appreciate you sharing so much insight about counseling on your channel! I am in my first few weeks of my Master's in Marriage and Family Therapy and I have found your videos very useful, interesting, and inspiring! Thank you!

Who's watching this in 2021?? Both this and GWH? I'm going to have to rewatch this film again. So good.

Thank you so much for this video. Good will hunting is one of my favorite movies. I'm lucky to have a really good therapist myself and hearing you explaining everything only confirms to me that I'm at the right place with him. Thanx also for sharing your emotions with us regarding to that one "It's not your fault" scene.

Thank you so much Doc. I had a session once like the climax session here and i have such a different view of it now. I felt so freed and like an emotional vomit after sobbing like a child unable to catch my breath for several minutes. Later I felt scared, I never went back to that therapist despite 6 months of weekly sessions already. I suddenly was terrified to have the therapist look me in the eyes, bring it up again. She called every week for a month then every other for a few more and I just ignored the calls. I sent a check for the missed session apologizing for being busy and that I would call in for another appointment but never did. Thanks to listening to many of your analysis, commentaries and deep dives and probably 15 years older I'm able to see that in a different light. I feel like I want to write her and apologize and let her know it wasn't her. I am still scared though she may want me to resume. Economics and distance give a good excuse why I can't Will sleep on it.

revisiting my favorite movie through your analytical lens is such a gift. thank you for this!

21:59, Dr. Honda, you are too pure for this world. My favourite fictional therapist is the one on "Skin Deep". The scene when he sees his patient walking and having spasms in the parking lot. Genius.

Interesting. I've watched this specific scene before but I don't remember in what context. Anyway I agree, it's a very powerful scene and brings me back to my own therapy sessions. Especially the sitting in silence part made me laugh because that was totally me at times hahaha Edit: forgot to mention - can you do reactions to "Shameless" (the American version) and "Skins" (the British version)? Both shows present mental health problems in a very accurate way and there are some really inspiring scenes in them.

Consider commenting on Blue Valentine

There’s a common belief that most people choose to study psychology to solve their own problems. As far as I find it logical, I must say I’ve met many therapists that are the most unstable and neurotic people out there and this is crazy! I always wonder how can they help other people while being so troubled themselves. I wonder what’s your take on that! On the other hand I feel like it’s really difficult to find a therapist that is really able to get through to you. As you said, it usually stays on the superficial level but doesn’t get to the core. It’s so upsetting when you do agree with what they say and you kind of know and understand but in the end it doesn’t change anything deep inside. Maybe you have some recommendations on how to find the right one? I realize that is rather complex but maybe you could give us some clues on how to search better😊

Thank you so much, Dr. Honda.

This is making me watch GWH for 4th time... Absolutely Marvelous

Awwwwww, hearing Dr Kirk talk about how having breakthroughs with clients like they did at the end of the movie gives me all the feels ☺

This episode of therapist reacts is so Amazing thank you dr Kirk😭❤️

Silence by a client is not best understood as a 'refusal' to speak but rather an inability.

Your videos are amazing and get me even more interested in maybe becoming a therapist one day (really liked being sometimes a holistic wellness coach and working in massage therapy, etc.). If I lived in Seattle still I'd want to learn directly from you. Such a great movie too - to see such a tough, intellectual, distant guy break down crying and hugging like that - wow. 💗

What an incredible set of insights. Thank you for sharing, Dr. Honda. I was moved.

“Woah we’re getting a little too close to my emotions right now, back off pal” felt that in many sessions

Thank you for doing this!

I am an MSW student and I just want to say thank you for doing what you do. I’ve been learning a lot through your videos!

Classic movie!!.... great choice !! Could you do the Kings Speech?

Thank you so much

I love how the end scene starts. "Listen, son". Like in this moment he tries to replace the flawed figure of authority in Will's brain by an empathetic safe one so that doors would open... Now to compare this with the Doctor Silberman from Terminator 2, lol.

Omg I had forgotten about the music in this movie! So wonderfull. Atually I think I have a full cd of this music, long forgotten, but gonna look for it now. Ellioth Smith's "Between the bars" brings back the memory to this movie in 1 second. Lovely music ❤ Edit: it turns out to be a video cassette of the movie that I still have! From 1998! Can't play this anymore abviously 🤣

the reason for the shepard and kicking him out of the session seems to be that robin has a limited time with will (court ordered) and wanted to break his comfort and complacency. It is a tricky gambit but with someone of wills intelligence it would be enough to make him in the time between the sessions wonder and fixate on that which is why he brought it up to bens character which drove the point home.

I have binge watched your play lists one after another for weeks now. This by far is one of my favorite of your videos posted and not just because Robin is one of my favorite people. Thank you... Now I need to go watch Good Will Hunting with someone close so I can tell them its not their fault.

wow i didnt know both people could heal at once, that's beautiful

Just watched the film for the first time yesterday, love it so much

As usual I am watching this late as I only just discovered you. The "It's not your fault" scene is one I have been through with a counselor, but i was on the receiving end of it. The first time I saw this movie, I didn't make it through this nor the rest of the movie. I still can't watch it without feeling like I've been run over by a truck.

I cried watching this too 🥺 I’d be interested in hearing your reaction to the leaked Amber Heard/Jonny Depp audio in which they discuss domestic abuse

I love another Robin Williams movie, Dead Poets Society. This is my favorite Robin Williams movie.

My therapist accepted a phone call and talked about golf while I wiped snot and tears from my face. I hope I find one like you or Robin Williams' character.

Great commentary keep it up man

Really lovely video. Thank you!

22:48 “When you have been made to feel worthless, when been made to feel your not good enough, when criticized to the very core of who you are, of course intellectually we know we are good enough, of course intellectually we know it is not our fault, but deep down - which is the majority of our psyche, the majority of our soul - does not believe it. There are certain ideas that we conclude early in life given the way we are treated like ‘I’m not good enough,’ ‘I’m not worth it’ and ‘It is my fault’ and we might know intellectual know that it wasn’t our fault but most of us still believe this core sense that ‘Yes it was our fault.,’ [and] ‘We did deserve for these things to happen.’ It is a natural conclusion of children as they try to make sense about why things like this are happening to them... Children will come to those conclusions - it is almost universal that children do - because they are trying to make sense of the world. Why would I be treated so badly? It must because I’m a bad person... Until we get to that core... It's hard for us to heal...”

This scene reminds me of another, surprisingly in the Marvel Movies, specifically Endgame where Thor learns he's still worthy. It's a very small thing in the scope of a bloated spectacle of a film, but that look on his face when he realizes after everything, he still matters. Dad Bod Thor could definitely benefit from some counseling.

Really liked this video. Very insightful. This movie is such a gemstone! Thanks you.

Dr Honda is so much more awesome to me now I know he also loves Elliott Smith! :')

I've always thought and felt like I didn't belong in my family and felt less loved and I'm just realizing how much that affected me without knowing it

I LOVE THIS!!!! P.s Elliott Smith is my favourite too 👌

How about Hope Springs? Could you do a reaction to that? That seemed like a great depiction of couple's therapy to me...

my favorite movie! Thank you for this!

12:10 From what I recall reading, both Damon and Williams were improvising here and the laughter was due to lines both had come up with. I believe Robin said something about lighting a match after his wife had farted and Matt asked, "was that how she died?" And they both just lost it at that moment.

Thank you for this I’ve had people say they thought this scene was stupid but I was very young when I was abused and I always felt it was my fault.

these videos have been giving me life since quarantine started and i discovered them after watching 90 day fiance. i would love to see you react to counselor deanna troi therapy scenes from star trek tng, and also possibly my favorite tv show of all time, buffy the vampire slayer and/or golden girls, if thats not too much of a stretch. whether you do them or not, keep making amazing content :)

My question would be "Is the scene where Sean and Will are talking outside really a therapy session.....or is that simply an honest conversation?" As I understand it, therapy is about consistency. You start and end every session at precisely the same time with no exceptions. The therapist sits in the same chair when you talk every time. You meet on the same day each week when you are in therapy. The consistency of these things establishes a sense of comfort and trust between the client and their therapist. It shows them "this is a safe place where I can be vulnerable and this is someone I can show my darkness to without being judged or condemned. I can trust this person" In this particular scene, all of that goes out the window. Will shows up EARLY to the session....already smoking a cigarette (which he knows is breaking Sean's rules) and then, rather than sitting down in Sean's office, they go outside to have their talk and Sean is extremely blunt with his words. He doesn't hold back anything. So IS it really a therapy session.....or is this Sean's way of clearing the air between them, considering their last meeting ended with him trying to strangle Will for insulting his wife? It IS interesting though....in the previous sessions, Will was sitting as far away from Shawn as he could be. He was moving around the room. He was smoking (against the rules). He was insulting Sean....and then Sean's wife. And then, he was using silence to try and exert power over Sean. To make him speak first. In this scene....Sean is talking to him and the whole dynamic has changed. Will is not avoiding him anymore....he is sitting right next to him. He's not deflecting the conversation or insulting Sean....he's actually listening. There seems to be a bit of respect there.

If only I had a therapist like that 25 years ago, I might have stuck with therapy and saved myself nearly a decade of depression.

Thank you. It inspire me, and helped my vocation.

I might even put up with a teeny, tiny strangle for a therapist like Robin..

You did a awesome job. I love this movie

Accepting something deeply and emotionally compared to intellectually being aware of it was my biggest complaint about REBT therapy. I know it works for a lot of people and its good for a lot of problems people have, but personally, Im fairly intellectually aware of my problems and why they arent realistic and not functional anymore aaaand now what? I still feel the same and the same things creep up on me. I've done so much more with say Psychodrama or similar techniques than REBT.

That’s what I needed to hear. I intellectually understand the trauma and why and how I function. But I can’t figure out how to feel better. Bc even tho I know it it’s distant. I understand it but I am not able to heal and don’t know how. I hope to find the right therapist

This movie made me a social worker ❤️ I now work in addiction counseling and it is the best job one can have.

Oh my god. I love Elliott Smith too. He’s also my favorite singer songwriter. Where you living in seattle at the time so you could bear witness? Man. Sitting a foot away from him, at an all ages afternoon show at the Redmond Y Firehouse in 96... After the show he was very kind, hilarious, super generous with his time. I’ll never forget seeing Elliott do a cartwheel for a cigarette. I thought he’d fall on his face, but he was practically acrobatic. Still miss him. Anyways.

Excellent, compassionate look at a movie I haven't watched, except for therapists talking about these scenes between Will and Sean. But I have a bone to pick with all the discussion I've seen: "I will end you" was not "inappropriate". Instead, "I will end you" and "It's not your fault" are bookend scenes. They work with each in a way which I believe transcends the rules, even the legalities, of therapy. Will earns Sean's hand around his throat. He does something which is simply unacceptable, attacking Sean's wife rather than Sean himself. So thin is his experience, he does not even recognize the boundary he's transgressed. But then an absolutely amazing thing happens: Sean backs off. Will's step-father would have beat him to death over something like that. Sean, however, does back off. He even acknowledges, at least by expression and manner, that HE has transgressed in his turn. And then, even more amazingly, Sean insists on a second session--but takes it out of his office, in the park. However, what happens on the bench is not therapy. It's a straight up, heartfelt, very well deserved, man to man-child scolding, something Will likely has never experienced. Sean shows Will what a true father figure is like, what real strength is capable of. Sean lays out his real experiences, compared with Will's surface book reading. Bonafides established in a way no diploma can, he shows that Will has desecrated Sean's space. Will must earn back the privilege of Sean's more experienced, wiser attention, and even Sean's respect, something no judge can grant or order. And then, after much water under the bridge, Will comes to "It''s not your fault." He lets Sean tell him something he already knows. But while, as a voracious reader, Will likely has an instinctive "Don't waste my time" reaction to repetition, Sean persists, to the point where it becomes threatening, and "It's not your fault" mutates from something Will knows, to something that Will is terrified of. Worse, Sean closes with him, invades his personal space, finally even touches him, even more threatening. Will begins to feel betrayed, but Sean still persists, poking the skinned over but unhealed wound again and again, until the stinking pus starts to leak out. This works because Will knows, deep down he KNOWS, that Sean will not hurt him to no purpose, or for his own aggrandizement or pleasure. Sean refused to punish him for something that was egregiously Will's fault, and certainly will not punish Will now because he is, truly IS, the victim. To be a victim is intolerable to Will; it is to be vulnerable, defenceless, useless, and worst of, to be WEAK. Will could not be a victim for anyone else, because there is no one else he knows he can trust as much as he trusts Sean, who has had him by the throat FOR DAMN GOOD CAUSE, and let him go. And then, by God and all His graceful, pure white swans, made him earn the privilege of coming back for more. Liability be damned, and if therapists have proved themselves to be TheRapists often enough that not even they trust themselves anymore, damn them again. Sean did the right thing, the manly thing, the human thing, and earned Will's respect and trust in a way that went right for the throat, and then the heart and soul. One more point: given the potential liability of the therapy business, Sean also made himself profoundly vulnerable to Will. Will could ruin him professionally, even get him criminally charged. His hand around Will's throat is how Sean put his own skin in the game, although I doubt that anyone in Sean's place would have thought of that at the time. It was completely instinctive, visceral. And yet, there it is: Will's future depends on Sean's good report to the judge. Sean's future depends on Will's keeping the incident between the two of them, under the seal, sub rosa. Again, I doubt either thinks of it that way. But there it is, the creaking fulcrum that allows the teeter to totter between them, keeping the balance.

They’re both from a working class Irish South Boston background. That’s one of the reasons he brings up he’s never been out of Boston.

Yesss Elliot Smith is so underrated

Excellent, excellent video.

The duck pond monologue is one of the best in film history

So pretty much this is inception. Sean is incepting the idea so deep that its not wills fault that he starts to believe it lol

I wish I could find a therapist like Dr. Kirk (or Robin Williams).

23:49 I can't believe but I broke down as soon as you said those words

This movie touched me a lot back then even though I hadn't connected with my own childhood trauma yet. Children need to adapt to the parents, and it has purpose when they're young but becomes toxic as they get older. The belief that I'm bad or It's my fault is a coping mechanism for a child because if it isn't their fault whose is it then? The parent? That is too much for a child to realize. The fear of being at the mercy of an unloving or inept parent is too much, so they find a way to cope. This belief can haunt the child their whole life.

Thank you. Inspiring!

I'd love to see you react to more films with therapy scenes like "Ordinary People" (1980). The scenes with Timothy Hutton and Judd Hirsch are intense.

not only did i grow up abused, but profoundly gifted

I love that you reacted to my favorite movie. Thank you!!!!

15:41 I've always thought the therapist did this for effect and wasn't really up set, so let him realize bullshitting isn't what we do in this room. Maybe even: you are allowed to say, I don't know.

This has to be like.... the World Cup of therapy sessions.

So how do you get to a place where you believe deep down it wasn't your fault? Doesit require a therapist