Lost in Transition
Change and Transition
‘Just because everything is different, doesn’t mean anything has changed’
Irene Peter P 63 Bridges
William Bridges says that change and transition are different things and
his model helps us to understand this.
Change: - an outer situational shift such as
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Losing your job
Getting a new boss
Being promoted
Having a baby
Losing a loved one
Moving house
Losing your house in a fire
They may be things we have chosen or things that are imposed on us.
There may be one change or many.
Transition: - the way we come to terms with change. The process of
letting go of the way things used to be and taking hold of the way they
subsequently become. A process of inner adjustment and readjustment.
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Two types of transition:
 ‘reactive’ transition – set off by a specific external change to which
we respond.
 Developmental transition – not triggered by a specific change but is
produced by a natural inner unfolding of those aspects of ourselves
that are built into who we are and how we are made e.g. midlife, how
we feel about a relationship. Here we may realise that something has
changed inside of us and while we may struggle with it, we know we
have changed.
In both cases, Bridges suggests that we can make sense of what happens
to us using the three phase model of transition:
Ending…………………………..Neutral Zone……………………………..Beginning
For example…
Change may be immediate – we live in one house one day and in another the
next. But it may be long after we arrive that we start to feel at home.
And looking back, we realise we were in transition during the last weeks in
the old house. Even the prospect of a change can put us into transition.
So transition can take longer than change and in the process we can find
ourselves in a kind of limbo – while we are adjusting to the new reality and
forming new identities and new images of ourselves.
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In between letting go of the old and and taking hold of the new is a chaotic
but potentially creative ‘neutral zone’ where things are neither the old way
or the new way.
We can use Bridges model to make sense of our own changes and
transition.
All transitions start with an ending and finish with a beginning. Bridges
Ending: letting go of old ways and identities. Recognising and grieving our
losses.
We lose or let go of our outlook, old reality, attitudes values, self
image. We may resist it or try to talk ourselves out of it. One
transition can set up resonance between present and painful
experiences in the past – sets up vibrations with other painful losses
so that we feel these too.
Neutral Zone: between the old and new – in limbo.
In-between time when the old is gone but the new isn’t fully
operational. Crucial time when critical psychological realignment and
re-patterning takes place. A kind of emotional wilderness where you
seek to know who you are and what is real. We may have mixed
signals from our old way of being and from our new way of being
which is not yet clear to us. Nothing feels solid and everything is up
for grabs.
It is a time when anything is possible and can therefore be very
creative – and very uncomfortable!
Beginning – making new beginnings.
Now we develop our new identity, experience new energy and discover
the sense of purpose that makes the change begin to work. We are
ready to start the new chapter – life feels back on track again. We
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have a new sense of ourselves, new outlook, sense of purpose and
possibility.
Bridges believes that in every change and transition we go through this
process, although the phases don’t always happen separately, they may go
on at the same time and there may be many transitions going on at the
same time. Our transition may last a long or short time – we will each
experience it differently… and it can’t be hurried or short-circuited. He
says that changes which fail are often because people involved have not
been through each part and done the work involved in each stage.
References
Bridges W. The way of Transition: Embracing life’s most difficult moments
Perseus Publishing 2001
Bridges W. Managing Transitions: Making the most of change
Nicholas Brearley Publishing London. Second edition 2003
Bridges W. Transitions: Making sense of Life’s changes
Perseus Books Group Second edition 2004
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