ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the developmental limitations of the brain in early childhood to demonstrate how these contribute to the formation of negative self-beliefs, and also deter children from developing self-applied methods to recognize and correct false negative self-beliefs. It considers how the deconstruction and reconstruction of negative self-beliefs in adults and children, as evidenced in research and practice outcome-based models such as the ITTM, go far to address unresolved childhood trauma. I contend that the primary negative self-belief formulation, at around the age of 5, is likely to be the one that is reinforced most frequently and consistently over time, and consequently this is the point of recall where therapy should begin.
