We have recently adopted and 8 year old child that I worry is a compulsive liar. We have been raising her for 2 years and despite all our efforts, this problem is not getting better. Most times her lies are automatic and about very small things that she would not get into trouble for. But lately we have noticed the lies have also become deliberate as in you will ask a question and she will pause before she ansewers with a lie. You can tell during the pause she is deciding what she will say. We have tried every thing we can think of to stop this behavior. Various forms of punishments, we have talked about right and wrong, that God wants us to be truthful, that she will (and has) loose friends because they can not trust her, we have read scripture together, we have talked about how a person is only as good as their word, we have even go so far as to reward her for being truthful! Yet this problem persists and seems to be getting worse. Her birth mother and father are compulsive liars, at first we thought this was a learned behavior and once she settled into a stable safe home she would stop. We have talked to her Sunday school teacher and asked for help, we have talked to her therapist. There are many days where we will catch her as many as 5 lies. At this point it seems as though lying is a habit for her. When caught she will cry and say she is sorry but turn right around and do the same thing and say the same lie again. What can we do to stop this behavior? Any advise you can give would be appreciated.