Tuesday morning therapy for Younger Boy.  This morning I went reluctantly.  He hadn't gotten any sleep.  I was grouchy after the morning we had and I just didn't want to be there wasting time.

This morning we talked about barricades in Younger Boy's thinking.  He has HUGE barricades when it comes to two specific things...homework and making a mistake.  Logically he knows that he has to do homework.  He even wants to, but there is a bigger thought/feeling that takes over.  We just have to do the detective work to figure it out.  Making a mistake is a bigger issue and very well could be tied to the homework piece.  When asked about a mistake or messing up his first response is "I don't know."  It is yelled and if asked again it gets angrier and louder.

Therapist C explained how this is part of his survival brain.  Your survival brain does three things for you...fight, flight, or freeze.  She talked to him about what a deer does, because they are a great example.  His freeze is to say "I don't know."  She challenged him that he does in fact know and he just isn't willing to say.

We talked about how he needs to be in the present.  How in this house with this mom he doesn't get in trouble for making mistakes.  He doesn't get consequences for forgetting things.  This mom tries to help him.  His survival brain can't remember it.

We pointed out how often he says "I don't know" as an answer to a question.  We asked how many times he thought he said it in a day.  His response..."I don't know."  He didn't want to get it wrong.

That is our homework from Therapist C this week.  Stop him every time he says "I don't know" and have him process and answer. 

Praises for starting to solve this puzzle which is his brain and thoughts.