I was counseling a young...
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I was counseling a young woman who had many severe problems. One that bothered her guardians most was that she had the habit of skipping school.
We had been meeting for a few weeks, and she promised that she would try to attend school faithfully for an entire month. The next week, before our session, I went out to the school to check on her attendance. She had missed two days of classes. As we began our counseling session, I asked, "How's school been this week?" She said, "Actually, very interesting," and proceeded to tell me all about her classes, which she said she had attended.
I then looked her straight in the face and said, "I know that's not true. I checked at the school and they told me you had been absent twice this week."
Her response was classic. She simply said, "Don't tell me that!" She felt, and probably properly so, it was worse to be caught in the lie than to tell one. Confrontation is a risky business, but it's the only way we ever learn the really hard lessons.
We had been meeting for a few weeks, and she promised that she would try to attend school faithfully for an entire month. The next week, before our session, I went out to the school to check on her attendance. She had missed two days of classes. As we began our counseling session, I asked, "How's school been this week?" She said, "Actually, very interesting," and proceeded to tell me all about her classes, which she said she had attended.
I then looked her straight in the face and said, "I know that's not true. I checked at the school and they told me you had been absent twice this week."
Her response was classic. She simply said, "Don't tell me that!" She felt, and probably properly so, it was worse to be caught in the lie than to tell one. Confrontation is a risky business, but it's the only way we ever learn the really hard lessons.
