Core Concept: Acts & Chapters
How Your Story Was Formed – And How It Can Change
When people arrive at Mind Works, they are often in the middle of a story that feels stuck.
You might say things like:
- “Why do I always end up back here again.”
- “I know what I should be doing, I just cannot seem to do it.”
- “I have tried so many things and nothing seems to last.”
Acts & Chapters is the Mind Works way of explaining why this happens and how change actually unfolds.
It brings together:
- your past experiences
- your current patterns
- your future direction
into one clear, compassionate map.
This model runs quietly underneath everything at Mind Works: the Process of Change, the Tower Block, Parts of Self, the Staircase, and the nutrition work.
You do not have to remember all the theory. What matters is this:
Your life is not one chapter.
You are allowed more than one act in your story.
The Three Acts
Acts & Chapters divides your psychological story into three main acts.
- Act 1 – The Subconscious Journey
How your past experiences shaped your beliefs, feelings, and patterns. - Act 2 – The Process of Change
The structured steps you move through when you decide something has to change. - Act 3 – Outcome & Growth
The stage where new patterns bed in and you start living with more direction, rhythm, and fuel.
You may recognise yourself in more than one act at the same time. That is normal. This model is not a label. It is a way of making sense of your experience.
Act 1: The Subconscious Journey
How the problem was formed
Act 1 explains how you reached the point where things feel stuck or overwhelming.
This is not about blame. It is about understanding how your mind and body adapted to what you went through.
1. Adverse Life Experiences
Psychology and neuroscience show that early experiences matter.
- Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) such as instability, conflict, criticism, or emotional neglect can sensitise the nervous system.
- The way we are cared for in childhood shapes our early self-esteem. Consistent, nurturing care builds a sense of “I am safe and I matter.” Inconsistent or harsh care can plant the opposite.
- The nervous system learns patterns of protection. This can later show up as anxiety, emotional shutdown, people pleasing, or comfort eating.
These experiences do not have to be extreme to have an impact. A long period of “low-level” stress can be just as powerful as a single big event.
2. Negative Core Beliefs
From these experiences, the brain starts to draw conclusions such as:
- “I am not enough.”
- “People leave.”
- “I am hard work.”
- “My feelings are too much.”
Cognitive and schema therapies describe these as core beliefs.
They sit beneath the surface and quietly shape how you feel about yourself, your body, and other people.
3. Relating
Attachment theory shows how early relationships set templates for later ones.
If care felt warm, predictable, and safe, we tend to expect this from others.
If care felt unpredictable, critical, or distant, our adult nervous system stays on alert.
This can lead to:
- fear of rejection
- staying in unhelpful relationships
- finding closeness uncomfortable
- using food, alcohol, or work to cope with relationship stress
4. Self-Concept
Over time, repeated experiences and beliefs solidify into a sense of “who I am”.
People say things like:
- “I am an anxious person.”
- “I am the big one in the family.”
- “I am the one who always copes.”
Humanistic psychology describes this as the self-concept.
If this self-concept is built on old pain or criticism, it can feel unsafe to change, even if part of you deeply wants to.
5. Autonomy
When attempts to change keep failing, or when life feels out of control, your sense of autonomy (personal power and choice) shrinks.
You may recognise:
- “What is the point, it never lasts.”
- “I always end up where I started.”
- “I do not trust myself to stick at anything.”
This is tied to research on learned helplessness and self-efficacy.
Your subconscious learns, “Change is high effort and low reward,” so it quietly resists trying again.
6. Current Situation
All of this shows up in your present-day life:
- stress, burnout, and low energy
- disrupted sleep and appetite
- emotional eating or drinking
- chronic pain or health issues
- relationship strain
- a sense of going round in circles
Your Tower Block level (overall health and stress state) and your Pillars of Health (psychology, physiology, physical health, environment and relationships) all feed into how stuck or hopeful you feel.
7. Presentation – The Recurring Cycle
Eventually, the pattern becomes impossible to ignore.
This is the moment you say:
- “I need help.”
- “I cannot keep doing this.”
- “Something has to change.”
In Acts & Chapters, this is called the Recurring Cycle.
It is the link between Act 1 and Act 2.
Your subconscious journey has brought you to a point where change becomes necessary.
Act 2: The Process of Change
How you start to move differently
Act 2 is where the structured Mind Works approach comes in.
(Each of these has their own page, which you can check out, by clicking the name of that page)
It follows seven stages that begin with the Recurring Cycle you have just recognised:
- Recurring Cycle – seeing the pattern clearly.
- Preparing – creating safety, stability, and readiness.
- Observing – building awareness of thoughts, feelings, and reactions.
- Understanding – connecting patterns to past experiences and core beliefs.
- Managing – using tools (such as breathwork, visualisation, HRV, and the Tower Block) to regulate and respond differently.
- Overcoming – reworking negative core beliefs, updating identity, and making new choices.
- Outcome & Growth – feeling more stable, clearer, and more able to act in line with what matters to you.
Act 2 is “the work”.
It is where you step onto The Staircase and begin to take steady steps rather than trying to leap to the top.
Act 3: Outcome & Growth
Living in a new chapter
Act 3 is not perfection. It is the point where:
- you understand why you used to think, feel, and act in certain ways
- the old beliefs have less power
- you can look after yourself without constant crisis
- relationships become more balanced
- health choices feel more possible
- setbacks no longer feel like total collapse
This act naturally leads into the Mind Works philosophy of:
- Direction – knowing the general direction you want your life and health to move in
- Rhythm – having a daily and weekly pattern that your nervous system recognises as safe
- Fuel – supporting your brain and body with what they need (sleep, food, movement, connection)
You will still have new chapters, challenges, and seasons, but you are no longer living on the same page of the old story.
You are not starting again from scratch.
You are moving from one act of your story into another, with structure, compassion, and science on your side.
