Some kids have imaginary friends. Cole (Haley Joel Osment) does them one better: He lives in a world beyond imagination, filled with ghosts and madness. Bruce Willis is the empathic child psychiatrist who tries to heal the child, only to find that the poltergeists are not of this world and the problem may be his own. Tightly wound and filled with twists, M. Night Shyamalan's terrifying thriller will chill you.

STARRING

Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment, Toni Collette, Olivia Williams, Trevor Morgan, Donnie Wahlberg

DIRECTOR

M. Night Shyamalan

LENGTH

106 Minutes

CATEGORY & RATING

Thrillers (PG-13)

AWARDS

2000 Academy Award: Best Picture nominee
2000 Academy Award: Best Director nominee: M. Night Shyamalan
2000 Academy Award: Best Supporting Actor nominee: Haley Joel Osment
2000 Academy Award: Best Supporting Actress nominee: Toni Collette
2000 Academy Award: Best Writing Original Screenplay nominee
2000 Academy Award: Best Film Editing nominee
AFI: Top 100 Thrills

POTENTIAL THERAPEUTIC ISSUES

QUESTIONS

Write short essay answers to any four of the following six questions.

1. In the “Sixth Sense,” Doctor Malcolm Crowe (Bruce Willis) initially struggles to diagnose Cole (the young boy) with a mood disorder, childhood schizophrenia, anxiety, or paranoia, until the good doctor starts to perceive non-corporeal realities of his own.
How might the clinical therapist attempt to distinguish whether a client is experiencing delusional, hallucinatory, or psychotic states, rather than having authentic transcendent experiences or thoughts? If you do not accept existence of spiritual or transcendent states of reality, please comment as to how you might proceed to treat Cole? Though a dissertation is possible, please restrain yourself instead to a brief answer.

2. In this film, there is an unexpected twist involving the question: who is benefited most by the therapeutic process, the client or the therapist? Please give a brief thought or reaction to this paradoxical situation which poses the question to what extent is the therapist taught and honored through therapy with the client?

3. In this film, spirits are depicted as having a profound need to tell their stories of affliction and injustice. They desire to be heard and seen by another person who sympathizes and understands before they may be able to rest. Their invisibility to others pains them intensely. Do clients feel ghost-like, invisible to those they love, and voiceless to those they most need to express themselves? Please write a brief reaction.

4. Describe a treatment plan for one of the characters in the film assuming he or she came to you for psychotherapy.

5. What did you learn from the film that you believe will enhance your clinical skills?

6. How might clients benefit from viewing the film and discussing it in therapy?

DIRECTIONS

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