Trauma Therapy

Trauma Doesn’t Live in the Story. It Lives in the Pattern

A lot of people think trauma is the story. The event. The Big Bad Thing™.
But as Bessel van der Kolk (2014) put it, “The body keeps the score.”
Trauma is less about what happened and more about what your nervous system did with it.

It creates what we at ShiftGrit call a maladaptive pattern loop—a repeating, automatic set of emotional reactions, behaviors, and thoughts driven by beliefs like:

• “I’m not safe”

• “I don’t matter”

• “I’m bad”

• “I can’t trust anyone”

Sound familiar? These are limiting beliefs, and they don’t just whisper—they shape your entire world.

And here’s the kicker: they don’t live in your logic brain.
They live in what we call your Walnut Brain—a.k.a. your limbic system, your threat detector, your prehistoric bouncer with zero chill.

🎯 Why Classic Talk Therapy Misses the Mark

Talking can help you understand trauma, yes. But understanding isn’t the same as resolution.

Neuroscience says:

• The amygdala lights up in PTSD and trauma response (Rauch et al., 2006)

• The hippocampus struggles to correctly “time-stamp” traumatic memories (Bremner, 1999)

• The prefrontal cortex—your rational brain—goes offline when you’re triggered (Arnsten, 2009)
  
  

Translation: trauma can turn your evolved, strategic mind into background noise the moment your walnut thinks you’re in danger.

So if you’ve ever thought, “Why am I reacting like this when I know better?”
That’s why.
Your walnut brain hijacked the wheel.

🧠 The ShiftGrit Model: We Speak Fluent Walnut

At ShiftGrit, we built our therapy model specifically to unhook trauma responses at the source. Our program combines:

1. Pattern Theory

A framework to map out how trauma has shaped your behaviors, beliefs, emotions, and relationships. Think of it like CSI for your psyche—we trace the loops from childhood experiences (what we call non-nurturing elements) to your present-day reactions.

🧩 Inspired by evolutionary psychology, attachment theory, schema therapy, and neuropsychology
🔍 Helps explain why you're stuck in the same loops
💡 Teaches clients how their patterns formed—without the psychobabble

2. Reconditioning Protocol

Here’s where we get to the good stuff: changing the pattern.
Our protocol uses imaginal exposure in a structured, therapist-led format that facilitates what science calls counter-conditioning (Bouton, 2004; Foa & Kozak, 1986). In simpler terms:

You revisit the traumatic beliefs—but this time in a way that teaches your walnut brain:
🧠 This isn’t happening anymore.
💥 You survived.
🔁 You can stop reacting like it’s still real.

🧁 The Cupcake Metaphor: Because Trauma Work Should Be Structured (and Delicious)

Let’s say therapy is a cupcake.

• The wrapper: A safe, structured environment with consistent language and support.

• The cake: Our repeatable protocol for trauma reconditioning. This is the core that delivers real change.

• The icing: Your therapist’s unique toolbox—CBT, EMDR, ACT, somatic techniques, all blended into the ShiftGrit system.

• The cherry on top: That’s you—bringing your goals, your history, and your readiness for transformation.
  
  

No more sitting in a circle wondering when it’s your turn to talk. We bring structure and results.

🔁 Trauma Repatterned, Life Rewritten

Here's what actually happens during ShiftGrit trauma therapy:

• We identify the limiting beliefs encoded by trauma (e.g., “I’m unsafe”)

• We trace how these beliefs create maladaptive loops (avoidance, hypervigilance, shutdown, people-pleasing)

• We use reconditioning exercises to extinguish the emotional charge

• We retrain your walnut brain to stop sounding the alarm when it doesn’t need to

• You notice actual, measurable change in your life—without needing to constantly remember a “strategy”

The Thunderstorm Metaphor: What PTSD Feels Like (and How We Stop It)

Imagine you’re a dog. (Stay with me.)
You were outside during a storm once. The thunder scared you.
Now, every time it rains—even if there’s no thunder—you tremble, hide, maybe chew a couch or two.

You know, rationally, that this rainstorm is different. But your body still reacts.

That’s trauma.

At ShiftGrit, we don’t just teach you to “cope with rain.”
We help your nervous system realize the storm is over.

Who Is This For?

We work with trauma in all its forms—whether clinically diagnosed or quietly eating away at your confidence. Our clients include those with:

• PTSD or Complex PTSD

• Childhood emotional neglect or abuse

• Sexual, relational, or betrayal trauma

• Medical or accident trauma

• Domestic violence

• Long-term invalidation or gaslighting

• Religious/institutional trauma

• High-achievers with “hidden” trauma
  
  

We’re trauma-informed, science-based, and laser-focused on change.

Trauma Therapy in Calgary—The Shift Starts Here

We offer in-person trauma therapy in Calgary as well as virtual sessions across Alberta. Whether your trauma feels fresh or ancient, obvious or vague, we’re here to make sense of it—and help you shift it.

Our clients come to us because they’re tired of talking.
They stay because they feel different. Clearer. Safer. Lighter.
It’s not magic. It’s pattern science.

👉 Book a consultation or contact our Calgary office today.

You’re not broken. You’re just patterned.
Let’s unpattern it.

📍 Serving Calgary & Alberta

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