Get Your Shift Together: Why a Therapy Framework Matters

Imagine you want to get fit. You’ve noticed your pants squeezing your waist like an over-eager dance partner and you catch yourself sighing every time your shoelace comes untied. So you go to your local gym.

“Hey,” you say to the toned, tanned gal who greets you with a 1,000-watt smile, “I’m trying to lose a little weight and improve my flexibility.”

“Great,” she says, with a flip of her blonde ponytail. Buff but accessible and friendly, Mackenzie laughs at all your jokes. Seems like a great ‘fit.’

“Hey, so I’m here because I want to…”

She cuts you off and has you do a few sprints. You had been expecting at least a welcome pamphlet but, “Okay,” you think, “just get down to business…” Then she’s got you doing bicep curls, a few downward dogs, and ten minutes of biking. Your heart is pounding and your muscles are wobbling.

Maybe it’s working??

“That’ll be $250,” Mackenzie tells you. “Cash or credit? See you next week!”

Next week you do an hour of deep breathing. The week after that, it’s pilates, followed by Qi gong, and then a week of long-distance running.

“Hey, so how’s the gym?” your friends ask.

“Amazing,” you tell them, “Mackenzie’s a great ‘fit.’” After all, you have a lot of laughs, in between the gasping and wheezing.

“What do you do with her?” they ask.

“Um… Exercise?”

As charming as Mackenzie might be, at a certain point, you’re gonna notice that your jeans are as squeezy as ever, that your shoes are just as far away — and all that’s different is your bank balance. You had a goal, and Mackenzie did not deliver.

Why Traditional Therapy Sometimes Falls Short

If someone wrote a play about the service industry in general, it would go like this:

[Curtain up.]

Act 1: A client has a goal and the professional has expertise.

Act 2: The client pays for said expertise.

Act 3: The professional delivers said goal.

[Curtain down.]

Lawyers, accountants, personal trainers, wedding planners. It’s pretty cut and dry: goal, expertise, outcome.

But somehow, because we aren’t trying to balance your books or unclog your plumbing, psychology thinks it’s unique. We deal with the special snowflake that is humankind, so the rules of behavioural science and evolutionary psychology that have been so carefully tested by other scientists need not apply.

The Problem with Therapy Without a Plan

There may be seven billion humans on the planet, but from a trained eye, we’re not as unpredictable as we seem.
While everyone has their own story — yes, even Great Aunt Martha — psychologists understand that much of human behaviour follows patterns. Patterns shaped by evolution, survival needs, and emotional learning over time.

Sure, humans are spectacularly weird. But underneath the quirks, most of us are running old survival programs that were never updated for modern life.

When those patterns start driving us away from what we truly want — our goals, our values, our well-being — that’s when psychology should step in. Not just to observe the problem, but to help rewire it.

That’s the real purpose of therapy:
Not endless conversation, but structured, strategic help.
The same way a personal trainer doesn’t just chat with you about fitness — they create a plan to help you move, lift, and grow stronger — a great therapist should have a framework for helping you move toward the life you want.

What Makes ShiftGrit Different: Identity-Level Change Through Structure

• We use Pattern Theory to map out the hidden emotional and behavioural loops.
• We use Reconditioning to remove the deep patterns, not just manage symptoms.
• Clients leave equipped with understanding and the tools to maintain change, not dependent on therapy forever.

Going into therapy without a game plan is a bit like going to the supermarket on an empty stomach — without a list. Let’s see how that works out for Jason.

[Act I, Scene 1]

Jason walks into the store, pushing a shopping cart, accompanied by Audra.

Jason: Boy, I sure am hungry. What are we here for?

Audra: Go pick out some food.

Jason: Do we know what we need?

Audra: Oh, yeah, I have a list.

Jason: Can I see the list? I feel like that might help me shop better.

Audra: Go grab some stuff. I’ll check off the list in my head.

[Audra sniffs a melon, as Jason starts wandering the store.]

Jason: Okay, I think I want to eat salad tonight, so maybe I need arugula?…Oh! Oreos…

Audra: I see you want some Oreos.

Jason: Yes, that’s why I put them in the cart.

Audra: And how does that make you feel?

Jason: Like eating Oreos…?

Audra: [nods understandingly]

Jason: Oh! Pizza Pops!

[As he’s about to put them in his cart, he hesitates.]

Hmmmm…not really ingredients for salad, but…Hey Audra, how’s our list doing?

Audra [nods reassuringly as she drops twelve blocks of tofu, a box of Cheerios, and a bottle of red wine in the cart]: Great, great.

Jason: Wait, I thought we were making salad?

Audra [checks watch]: Okay, time is up. Go check out.

Jason: But I–

[Audra has already vanished.]

Cashier [ringing up groceries]: $250 please, cash or credit. See you next week.

Jason: … [head explodes].

[End Play.]

How Pattern Theory Puts You Back in Control

If you set the same scene inside a typical therapist’s office, no one blinks:
A client talks in circles, feeling heard but making no real progress. No clear plan, no practical tools, no end in sight — just validation, a few obvious observations, and another invoice.

Imagine calling the fire department as flames swallow your house — and the firefighter shows up, clipboard in hand:

“Your house is burning down. How does that make you feel? $250 please.”

At ShiftGrit, we believe therapy should do more than name the fire.
We help you spot the flames — yes — but we also hand you the hose, turn on the water, and make sure your most important parts don’t turn to ash.

We do this by teaching a clear, structured framework: Pattern Theory.
Rooted in psychological science but simple enough to grasp in five minutes, it gives our clients the ability to see and change their own patterns — not just inside therapy, but in every part of life.
Parents apply it with their kids. Partners apply it in relationships. Leaders apply it at work.

That’s why ShiftGrit is a true departure from traditional therapy.
We give you a way to organise your internal world — meeting a deeply human need — and empower you to change, without needing to stay chained to our lime green couches forever.

In other words:
When we go grocery shopping, we don’t just wander the aisles.
We have a list — and we share it with you.
(And yes, if you want to grab some Pizza Pops along the way, we’re good with that — as long as it’s the Hawaiian kind.)

Ready to Shift?

Ready to Shift?

At ShiftGrit, therapy isn’t random. It’s structured, strategic, and designed for real, lasting change.

If you’re ready to stop spinning your wheels and start transforming your patterns at the identity level, we can help.

👉 Learn More About Identity Patterns Therapy