How we can support ourselves through the process of change

The previous article (IN, 4 March) outlined four stages through which we may pass when change occurs: denial, resistance, acceptance and commitment.¹ Although a change may be immediate, such as moving to a new building or working in a different team, the emotional process, or transition, that we experience as a result of this can take much longer.

In this sense, change is something external, for example initiated by the government or by your employer. The transition, however, is internal - a psychological re-orientation that we have to achieve before the change will work.² This transition model developed by Bridges is described further in the table, below.