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Cory A. Potter

COUN 604-D01 200731 Crisis Counseling

Professor Holland

Movie Review #2

July 12, 2007

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Move Review #2

In the film based on a real-life story, The Pursuit of Happyness, Chris Gardner is an

African-American salesman who faces many struggles as he tries to provide for his five year old

son as a single parent in the early 1980’s (Black & Muccino, 2006). Chris is a very intelligent

individual without an education. He is very determined to succeed with strong ego strength.

These traits help him cope when he begins to experience the precipitating events which

eventually lead to a crisis situation for Chris. First, his car gets impounded due to unpaid traffic

tickets, and he cannot afford to get his car back. He is forced to walk or use public

transportation. Second, Chris is an entrepreneur who took a chance that did not work out. He

bought several bone density scanner machines with his life savings. He is unable to sells these,

because they are twice as expensive as x-ray machines and doctors find them to be an

unnecessary piece of equipment. He begins to have financial difficulties and falls behind on his

rent and taxes due to lack of sales success. This creates a situation where his girlfriend, and

mother of his son, has to work double shifts at her job to support the family. She becomes bitter,

feels hopeless, and eventually leaves Chris and their son to move from San Francisco to New

York. Chris demands that their son stay with him, because he grew up not knowing who his

father was and wanted to stop that cycle. In fact, his crisis results from pursuing a better life for

his son.

Next, Chris is talented in working with numbers and discovers that he would like to be a

stockbroker. Even with his limited experience and education, his determination leads him to

land an unpaid internship in a stockbroker training program with no guarantee of a job. Without

a salary, Chris falls further behind on his bills and is kicked out of his apartment. He finds

another apartment that is a converted hotel with cheaper rent. However, one day the IRS swept

his checking for all his money except $21.00. With no income and no money, he is evicted. He

struggles with trying to find shelter for his son and himself. They stay in homeless shelters,

sleep in locked bathrooms in the subway station, and find shelter through riding public

transportation around the city. Chris resorts to donating blood for money to provide meals.

Being homeless has Chris in crisis as he tries to care for his son. His situation contrasts

to polar opposite worlds. As he attempts to earn a position at the brokerage firm, he dresses in

suits and mingles with financially successful clients and associates. Once he leaves his training,

he takes all his possessions with him in a suitcase to go pick up his son. They then scramble

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across town to make it to the homeless shelter each night before it fills up. Also, his son is stuck

at a makeshift daycare in the Chinese district of town. Chris struggles with his son’s exposure to

inaccurate information in Chinatown. Even the word happiness is spelled incorrectly with a ‘y’

instead of ‘i’ outside of the daycare. However, he knows it is all he can afford.

Chris perceives his situation as temporary regardless of how tough it seems to get. He

hangs onto the American dream of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. He sees promise

and hope in trying to better himself regardless of his situation. The challenges he faces create

distress for Chris, but he copes well to always be there for his son. He even tells his son to never

let anyone take away his dream by telling him he cannot achieve it. Over time, Chris realizes

that his medical scanners can be sold, so he spends his evenings selling every last scanner while

he continues his training. Using his personal and sparce social resources, he survives being

homeless. Eventually, he beats out all the other trainees to land the position as a stockbroker.

However, he succeeds without the help of any friends or family.

The Pursuit of Happyness clearly depicts the precipitating events that lead to Chris

Gardner’s crisis. Despite having hope for his future, Chris feels helpless and desperate when he

is left homeless and poor. The film captures the emotional intensity of trying with all your

might, but still facing homelessness. Next, the film demonstrates how Chris alleviates the crisis

by working hard, never giving up, using social resources, and clinging to the hope of a better

future. However, many people may have trouble getting out of poverty and homelessness as

smoothly as Chris Gardner.

The following methods would be beneficial in assessing the crisis of becoming homeless,

alleviating the crisis, teaching coping skills, and developing resiliency. In helping the client’s

coping ability, the counselor should first develop a rapport by providing a warm and supportive

environment (Kanel, 2007). The counselor should then assess which basic needs are unmet

whether it is food, personal hygiene including clean clothes, medical needs, a warm place to

sleep, a restroom, a mailbox, or a phone to use (Open Door Counseling Center, 2007). Similarly,

the counselor should set out to assist the client in finding the community resources that are

available for the homeless to meet the immediate basic physiological and safety needs based on

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (Craig & Baucum, 2002).

Using the ABC model of crisis intervention proposed by Kanel (2007), a crisis counselor

should find out what homelessness means to the client whether it is forced adjustment, loss of

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control, loss of self-esteem, or loss of nurturance. Most clients may find being homeless affects

their self-esteem, and they view the crisis as a loss of self identity. Other clients may view

homelessness and poverty as a loss of control over their lives. Once the counselor can determine

the client’s perception of situation, he can then evaluate the client’s level of functioning and

distress associated with homelessness and poverty, keeping in mind that many African-American

clients are also dealing with racism in everyday life (Kanel, 2007). The counselor could then

provide supportive, educational, empowering, and reframing statements. For example, the

counselor could address the homeless issue by stating, “I know that right now you feel that your

situation will never end, but many people have been through this situation and have survived.

You have reason to believe you can, too.” The counselor could then share educational

statements such as the percentage of homeless in the local area who have successfully reversed

their situation and statistics on those who have become gainfully employed enduring poverty. If

the client is feeling helpless, an empowering statement could be offered such as,

You have handled this with dignity and determination. Let’s explore some of the ways

you have successfully coped with your finances and living arrangements. You didn’t

choose to become homeless, but you now have a choice of what you can do. You can get

involved with a job readiness and placement program, organize living arrangements

provided by friends or family, participate in a life skills mentoring seminar, learn

computer skills to assist you in finding employment, join an overcomers group, or apply

for public assistance programs. Let’s talk about how you feel with each of these choices.

Once the counselor understands the client’s perspective, the counselor could use a

reframing statement such as, “This situation has really shown you how important it is for you to

be able to provide for your family and sustain your household financially. You now can focus on

fulfilling that desire through using these resources to better your employment situation and living

arrangements for your family.” The counselor could also encourage the person to watch The

Pursuit of Happyness to see this inspiring example of resiliency. The crisis counselor should

arrange for mental health counseling to assist in building self-esteem and conquering barriers to

self-sufficiency which may include addiction, grief, depression, or cultural expectations. Long-

term success comes when the individual can rely on strong community support to get back on his

or her feet. Finally, the counselor should follow-up to see that the client is following through

with the recommendations.

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References

Black, T. (Producer), & Muccino, G. (Director). (2006). The pursuit of happyness [Motion

picture]. (Available from Sony Pictures, 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, CA,

90232)

Craig, G. J., & Baucum, D. (2002). Human development (9th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ:

Prentice Hall. (Original work published 1976)

Kanel, K. (2007). A guide to crisis intervention (3rd ed.). Belmont, CA: Thomson Brooks/Cole.

Open Door Counseling Center. (2007). Homeless services. In Counseling center services.

Retrieved July 10, 2007 from

http://www.opendoorcounselingcenter.org/homeless_services.htm