Before Trust, There's Psychological Safety- A Lesson from Foster Dogs
- Vanessa Forslev
- Dec 12, 2025
- 3 min read
Each time I bring home a new foster dog, I never quite know who I'm meeting.
Will they trust me? Will they eat? Will they come out of their crate? Are they scared of stairs? Have they ever even been inside a house before?
In the early days, there's so much uncertainty in their eyes. They watch everything. Every step I take, every sound from my kids, every opening of a cupboard or rustling of a bag.
But over time, something amazing happens. They start to settle. They recognize the food bowl shows up at the same time. That the crate is a safe place. That hands are for petting, not hurting. That the leash means adventure, not fear.
And then, sometimes suddenly, they bloom. A tail that stayed tucked finally wags. A tentative pup starts initiating play with my resident dog. A scared dog hops up beside me on the couch, just to be near.
Each of these transformations is its own kind of miracle. But it's not magic. It's predictability. Patience. Care.
It's psychological safety.
Psychological Safety: It's Not Just for Work
We tend to talk about psychological safety in business terms: teams that perform better when they trust one another, cultures where mistakes can be admitted without fear. But it's also deeply personal. It's the root of belonging and growth.
As a volunteer and foster with Safe Hands Animal Rescue in Minneapolis, I've had the privilege of seeing how small, consistent acts of care change everything. And I've come to believe this: we have a lot to learn from dogs when it comes to how we care for one another.
Kindness as the Starting Point
There's a moment in the Netflix documentary Inside the Mind of a Dog that's always stuck with me. It suggests that dogs have survived as a species in part because they've been friendly. Their friendliness helped them form strong bonds with humans, and those bonds helped ensure their survival.
Kindness has literally kept them alive.
And I think the same might be true for humans. Not just in some abstract moral way, but in a real, day-to-day, "how do I get through this week?" kind of way. We need each other. And we're all better off when we're helping one another.
Bring a Little Kindness into the New Year
As we close out the year, I want to gently suggest a small resolution. Not a big, sweeping promise you'll abandon by mid-January, but a small intention:
Bring a little kindness into the new year.
Offer it to your coworkers, your neighbors, the person on the other end of that frustrating Zoom call. Offer it to someone who's struggling in ways you can't see.
And offer it to yourself. Because you can't pour from an empty cup. Just like my foster dogs need rest and routine before they're ready to connect, we also need to take care of ourselves before we can fully show up for others.
That might look like:
Taking a real lunch break
Asking for help instead of powering through
Finding something outside of work that lights you up
For me, that's animal rescue. For you, it might be different. But I encourage you to find something that makes you feel more like yourself. Something that gives more energy than it takes.
Check out your local nonprofit listings. Look for an organization that speaks to your heart. It doesn't have to be big. It just has to be yours.
We often think we need to do something huge to make a difference. But in my opinion, putting a little good into the world is always better than putting in none.
Here's to a new year of wagging tails, second chances, and kindness. At home, at work, and everywhere in between.
Want to learn more about Safe Hands Animal Rescue? Visit them here: https://safehandsrescue.org/
Curious how psychological safety can support your workplace? I'd love to talk and you can schedule time with me here. But today, just be kind. That's enough.
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