Today with Therapist C we discussed lying and the survival brain which goes along with it.

Therapist C asked Younger Boy why he thinks he lies.  He said it is because he will get in trouble.

She asked him to describe what "getting in trouble" looks like at this house with this mom.  He said "talking about it and sometimes consequences".  She asked what he thought was bad about that and to let his mind float back to a time when "getting in trouble" meant something else.

He said when I was little I used to "get beat".

She asked him if he thought maybe his mind was stuck there and so when he thought he was going to get in trouble even though his "12 year-old" brain knows that doesn't mean "getting beat" his four-year old brain still doesn't trust this mom.

We talked some more, because she told him although she thought "getting in trouble" was part of it that maybe it meant something else to him.  He went on to talk about accidents and making mistakes.  He talked about how it proved you were stupid and didn't deserve to be loved and how you "ruin everything" when you make a mistake.

There we go.  His negative self beliefs.  Now we have something to work on.