What Should I Do When
My Child Lies and Manipulates?
When a child lies or manipulates, it can feel disrespectful, personal, and alarming, but it isn’t a character issue. It’s a survival strategy. In this course, April Ficklin unpacks why many adopted and foster children rely on dishonesty to feel safe, and how early trauma wires the brain to protect rather than connect. Participants learn why telling the truth can feel threatening, how fear activates old survival patterns, and what happens in the nervous system when a child feels cornered or ashamed.
This course gives parents a clear framework for staying calm, disarming fear, and creating the felt safety children need to choose honesty. April walks through practical tools like using scripts to stay regulated, meeting needs before correcting behavior, identifying the patterns behind lying, and avoiding questions that accidentally invite more deception. Caregivers leave with simple, connection-centered strategies they can use immediately to lower defensiveness, rebuild trust, and help their child learn healthier ways to get their needs met.
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Summary
Meet The Instructor
INSTRUCTOR
April Ficklin
Director of Family Support Services
TBRI® Practitioner, Upstate Region
April is a mom of four who has degrees in English and Education from Furman University and Clemson University. Her career has taken her on many journeys from the high school classroom to virtual university forums to being an entrepreneur working from home. As an adoptive parent, April is passionate about serving children from hard places and their foster and adoptive families as well. She is a strong advocate for the vulnerable.
