Identity-Level Therapy Guides

Impaired Limits

Limiting Beliefs in the Impaired Limits Schema Domain

In this Schema Domain, limits weren’t consistent, fair, or emotionally safe. Beliefs can swing between “rules don’t apply to me” and “I can’t tolerate frustration, so I might as well give in.”

When boundaries, self-control, or reality-checks are inconsistent—we either overstep or implode.

This page maps the core Lifetraps and limiting beliefs inside this Schema Domain—so you can see how identity-level patterns are structured and how they may be showing up in perfectionism, shutdown, overfunctioning, or anxiety.

Many people find it helpful to have language for what has felt like “just the way I am.” Naming the pattern is not the same as diagnosing it, but it can create a clearer starting point for change.

Looking for the full Limiting Belief Library? Jump to this domain inside the Core Beliefs Library or explore the full map at /core-beliefs/.

Lifetraps in Impaired Limits

Each Lifetrap is a recurring pattern between what you expect, how you feel, and how you cope. Below are the Lifetraps in this domain and some of the beliefs that often sit underneath them.

Entitlement / Grandiosity

Beliefs that rules, limits, or consequences shouldn’t really apply to you.

Examples of beliefs in this Lifetrap:

  • Visual belief card labelled “I Am Powerless” — part of ShiftGrit’s limiting belief schema.
    8. “I Am Powerless”

    When the belief “I Am Powerless” takes root, action doesn’t feel difficult — it feels pointless.
    You want to change. You want to move forward.
    But your system says, “What’s the use?”

  • Black and white tile with the elemental symbol “En” and the belief label “I Am Entitled” — part of ShiftGrit’s 77 core belief system.
    71. “I Am Entitled”

    You’ve probably heard “everyone deserves respect and fairness.”
    But when this belief is active, fairness feels skewed—you feel inherently owed more.
    “I Am Entitled” isn’t about healthy self-respect or ambition.
    It says: “The world owes me special treatment, privileges, or recognition, regardless of my actions.”
    When this belief guides your interactions, relationships become transactional, often leading to frustration, disappointment, and social disconnection.

  • Belief tile for “I Am Privileged” from the ShiftGrit core belief identity system
    74. “I Am Privileged”

    You’ve probably heard “gratitude is important.”
    But when this belief is active, gratitude turns into guilt—and receiving support feels undeserved.
    “I Am Privileged” doesn’t just recognize advantage.
    It says: “I’m not allowed to struggle, complain, or take up space—because I’ve had it easier than others.”

Important: This library is intended for education and self-reflection only. It does not provide a diagnosis, and it’s not a substitute for working with a qualified mental health professional.

How Identity-Level Therapy Works with Limiting Beliefs

Mapping beliefs is the first step. In therapy, we don’t just name the pattern—we focus on the identity-level loops that seem to keep it active, using structured exercises that are intended to help your nervous system update old rules that no longer fit your current life.

1. Map the Pattern

We trace how a belief—like “I Am Not Good Enough” or “I Am A Failure”—links to specific triggers, emotions, body responses, and coping moves such as overworking, avoidance, or shutdown. This gives us a clear, shared map of what actually happens when the pattern turns on.

2. Work at the Identity Level

Within Identity-Level Therapy, we use targeted imaginal and experiential exercises aimed at updating the belief at the schema level. Over time, many people find it becomes easier to register new information about safety, worth, and control, rather than defaulting to old conclusions.

3. Practise New Responses

We then practise new responses in-session and between sessions, so any shifts in belief have more opportunity to show up in real life—at work, in relationships, and under pressure. The goal is more flexibility and choice, not perfection.

Want to see how this fits into the broader ShiftGrit approach?
Explore Identity-Level Therapy to see how we organise therapy around patterns, not just symptoms.

Identity-Level Therapy

Identity-Level Therapy targets the belief patterns and emotional loops driving automatic reactions—not just the surface symptoms. By working at the identity layer, clients shift how they interpret safety, regulate threat, and relate to themselves and others. The result: reconditioning at the root of shame, self-sabotage, reactivity, and overwhelm.

It’s organized around three pillars:

ShiftGrit Psychology & Counselling
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Edmonton, AB,T5N 1R7, Canada
Phone: (780) 705-6463
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Calgary location

ShiftGrit Psychology & Counselling
Address: 815 17 Avenue SW #210,
Calgary, AB, T2T 0A1, Canada
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Edmonton Location

ShiftGrit Psychology & Counselling
Address: 10445 124 Street,
Edmonton, AB,T5N 1R7, Canada
Phone: (780) 705-6463

British Columbia

ShiftGrit Psychology & Counselling
Areas served: British Columbia
Phone: +1 888-352-7270

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