An Old Dog Can Learn New Tricks - Here’s How the Brain Shows Us

An old dog can’t learn new tricks – or so we’re told.

This phrase often surfaces in counselling rooms, not as a comment about age, but as a quiet conclusion people reach about themselves.

“I’ve always been like this.”

“This is just my personality.”

“It’s too late to change now.”

From a psychological lens, this isn’t resistance or lack of motivation. It’s the nervous system protecting familiarity.

Neuroplasticity doesn’t switch off with age. What changes is efficiency. The brain strengthens what it has practiced the most - especially patterns linked to emotional safety, control, or survival. Yet, self-limiting beliefs often act as our “old dog” excuse, convincing us that change isn’t possible even when the brain is capable of learning and adapting.

Personality traits add another layer. Traits like caution, emotional intensity, or avoidance aren’t flaws to correct; they are strategies that once reduced threat. Letting go of them can feel destabilising, even when they no longer serve the person’s present life.

In counselling, change rarely happens by trying to “unlearn” someone’s nature. It happens by understanding the function of old patterns and creating enough safety for new responses to feel possible.

When change feels hard, it’s often not because someone can’t learn new tricks - it’s because the old ones kept them safe for a very long time.