Trauma Reactions Explained by a Psychologist in Calgary: The Dog and the Work Boots Story
The Dog and the Work Boots: Why You’re Still Triggered and What to Do About It
Imagine a rescue dog. She’s been taken in from a bad situation. The shelter is safe, the people are kind, the food is regular. But every time someone wearing work boots comes near her, she growls. Her tail tucks. She backs into the corner.
The people at the shelter know she’s safe. They know they’re not going to hurt her. But her nervous system doesn't believe it yet.
This story might seem like it’s about animals. But it’s actually about us.
At ShiftGrit Psychology & Counselling in Calgary, we often start therapy with a simple question: what’s your version of the work boots?
Because just like the dog, our nervous systems carry forward experiences long after they’re over. That’s why no matter how much you tell yourself “It’s different now,” your body still reacts. You freeze. You over-explain. You pick a fight. You shut down. You say yes when you mean no.
These responses are not about what’s happening. They’re about what’s already happened. And that’s what we help you change.
Understanding Your Internal System
We teach every client who walks into our Calgary therapy offices a core concept: you have two minds.
The first is your cognitive mind. This is the evolved part of your brain. It plans, sets goals, analyzes, solves problems, and knows what’s best for you.
The second is what we call the walnut brain—our nickname for your threat system. This is the part that scans for danger, prepares to fight or flee, and learns quickly from fear.
Most therapy targets your cognitive mind. And that’s important. But if your walnut brain is still active—still scanning for danger—then even the best insight won’t stick.
That’s why you can leave therapy saying “That session felt good,” but still go home and repeat the same self-sabotaging pattern. The part of your brain driving those behaviors didn’t get the memo.
Pattern Theory: Why You React the Way You Do
Our approach is built on something called Pattern Theory. It’s how we explain why you keep reacting the same way even when you want to change.
Every time something reminds your walnut brain of a past threat—something that felt scary, shaming, or destabilizing—it activates a belief. We call these limiting beliefs. They sound like:
- I’m not safe
- I’m going to be abandoned
- I’m not good enough
- I’m too much
- I have to be perfect to be loved
Once this belief is triggered, your threat system takes the wheel. It overrides logic. It doesn’t care about your growth plan or your journaling or your five affirmations this morning. It wants one thing: to stop the pain. And it will use whatever behavior worked in the past—even if that behavior is what you’re now trying to stop.
The Dog Learns. So Do We.
Let’s go back to the rescue dog.
The shelter doesn’t fix her by saying, “You’re safe now.” They don’t show her a PowerPoint on boot safety.
Instead, they do exposure. Slowly, gently, consistently. A person in boots walks by from a distance. Then closer. Eventually they toss her treats. Eventually they kneel down. Eventually she associates boots not with pain, but with kindness, trust, and safety.
At ShiftGrit, our therapy program works in a similar way. Once we identify the pattern that’s been driving your reactions, we use a structured reconditioning process to target the belief at its source. Not with logic. With exposure. With consistency. With methods that speak directly to the walnut brain.
This is not about coping better. This is about not needing to cope in the first place.
Why We’re Different From Other Calgary Psychologists
We are psychologists in Calgary who take a very different approach from most talk therapy providers. While we value insight, we know it’s not enough. Our program combines cognitive understanding with neurological reprocessing. We don’t just talk about your triggers. We help your nervous system stop reacting to them in the first place.
That’s what makes our model effective for:
- High-functioning anxiety
- People-pleasing and burnout
- Overthinking and perfectionism
- Relationship avoidance or clinginess
- Trauma responses that won’t go away, even when life looks “fine”
In short, we help people like you get unstuck. And we do it by treating the real root—not just the symptom.
ShiftGrit Psychology & Counselling | Psychologist Calgary
We’re a psychology clinic located in Calgary’s Mount Royal neighborhood, right on 17th Avenue. Our team of therapists uses the ShiftGrit method to help clients recondition the beliefs and reactions that are keeping them from the life they want.
If you’ve tried therapy before but still feel like you’re spinning in circles, you’re not broken. You may just need a new kind of approach.
Let us help you rewire your reactions, recondition your nervous system, and step into a version of life that actually feels different.
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