WILLIAM BRIDGES: TRANSITIONS IN ADULTHOOD

According to William Bridges (2003), transition is a process that people go through as they come to terms with a new situation. Change is external; transition is internal. Understanding the process of change allows individuals experiencing it to place themselves in a context that both names and explains what they are going through. Bridges’s model illustrates three phases of transition: ending, losing, or letting go; the neutral zone; and the new beginning.

There is no clear demarcation between these phases. Each blends into the others. Feelings accompanying endings, for example, can continue well into the phase when the individual is constructing a new beginning.

Stage 1: Ending. This phase is typically ...

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