The Transition Curve

So, with most of my Coaching programmes, an individual will come to me because they are wanting or having to change something in their lives. This can be that they want to find a new career, job or role, they are having a baby or they need to reflect on how to deal with people or tasks more effectively within their current work environment. The list is endless, but one thing is for certain, they will all experience some or all of the emotions on the Transition Curve that I’m going to describe below.      

The Transition Curve, or Change Curve, is based on the findings of Kubler Ross. Kubler Ross reflected more on the stages of grief, and identified that you go through 5 distinct stages of grief : Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and finally acceptance. In my work as a Parental Transition Coach, these stages have been adapted to reflect the emotions that you can go through during any significant transition, as noted above. The Change Curve is a very trusted and reliable tool that can be used to understand the stages where people are when they are going through a major or significant change in life., and how they adapt to the change that is taking place.  

The Transition Curve identifies that during any significant event or period of change, you may experience initially shock, excitement, confusion. The second stage brings in different emotions depending on the event such as uncertainty, denial, self doubt, even anger, with people thinking things won’t change, or that something is unfair. You will then travel down to a low point in the emotions, where you may feel frustrated or isolated, and this will then be the Turning Point in the transition. At this stage, you may need to reflect that you need to adapt to the change that has presented itself, and start trying to move forward. This can be an opportunity to try doing things differently, start asking for help more and think about how you manage things better in the future for yourself in particular. As you move forward, you will be looking forward to bigger and better things, and once you’ve worked through your own transition, you may actually be in a position to support others with their own transitions going forward. 

Understanding the different stages of personal change can help you make sense of perspectives and emotions that you and others may experience during a particularly challenging time in your life. Change can force you to re-evaluate your hopes, aspirations and beliefs as well as who you actually are. Being able to recognise that what you experience personally or professionally during a transition is part of the normal process of change can be helpful. To help manage yourself during a transition effectively and efficiently, it’s important to look for support and help from those around you, to seek opportunities to talk things through and focus more on the future. These can all play their part in helping you to prepare for and manage your new reality.