MONDAY MINDSET RESET · EPISODE 3

Find yourself on the map

10 min · The five phases of transition · Season 1

Most suffering in transition isn't about the transition itself. It's about not being able to locate yourself inside it. This episode gives you the full map — five phases, not linear, not a ladder — so you can stop calling where you are failure and start calling it a location.

IN THIS EPISODE

→ Why not knowing where you are turns ordinary discomfort into shame

→ The five phases of transition: Disruption, Disorientation, Identity Reconstruction, Intentional Choice, Integration

→ Why phase three — identity reconstruction — feels like regression but is actually the deepest work

→ A somatic phase check to help you locate yourself honestly, not aspirationally

→ This week's reflection question

THE FIVE PHASES

→ Disruption — something ended or destabilized. You're activated, numb, or both.

→ Disorientation — you're not where you were, not yet where you're going. This is Oklahoma.

→ Identity Reconstruction — who am I without that role, that relationship, that version of my life?

→ Intentional Choice — energy returns. Small steps feel possible.

→ Integration — this transition becomes part of your story, not the whole story.

THIS WEEK'S REFLECTION

Which phase feels most true right now? Not the one you wish you were in. The one that actually fits.

There is no wrong answer. There is only the honest one. And the honest answer is the beginning of orientation.

ANCHOR STATEMENT

Language restores agency. When you can name where you are, you stop calling it failure. And that changes what's possible next.

FREE RESOURCE MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

If something in this episode named where you are, take the free Middle of Change quiz. In a few minutes it helps you see which part of the middle you're actually in — and what one honest next step looks like from there. You'll get a short guide made for exactly where you are.

Take the quiz → nextacttherapy.com/quiz

ABOUT THE HOST

Latosha D. Leonard, MS, LPC is a licensed professional counselor, licensed clinical supervisor, and founder of NextACT in Austin, TX. Her work centers on the Middle of Change framework — the philosophy that the space between what ended and what hasn't started yet is a real, navigable place. She is an Air Force veteran, AALI Alum, and Fall 2026 doctoral student in Counselor Education at Texas A&M University.

CONNECT

→ Website: nextacttherapy.com

→ Instagram: @nextacttherapy

→ LinkedIn: Latosha D. Leonard, LPC

Next Monday we close out week 4 — clarity doesn't come first, movement does. Subscribe so it's there when you wake up.