. Shame and those attendant feelings that come from being a little kid in bad adult hands sometimes mean you don't have a sense of self, never mind advocate for yourself. For people who are hard on themselves or blame themselves for things out of their control, it can be life affirming or even lifesaving to have your T advocate for you even if it is to your adult self about your past self . It is like role modeling. If I tell my T I feel guilty bc of xyz , he is likely to argue my case to myself. ( Unless I genuinely screwed up and then he will take a different path).