The Chinese ideogram for the word crisis combines the symbols for "danger" and "opportunity."  Similarly, a life transition offers a chance to change and grow in response to a situation that at first can seem foreboding.

Some transitions occur by choice, others are thrust upon us.  Yet all transitions are a natural part of life, whether we accept them or not.  Fighting the inevitability of a transition is often what brings people to therapy in the first place.

To manage transitions more successfully, it's helpful to remember that they involve identifiable stages from loss and grief to confronting the unknown to re-entry into life again.  How well a person coped with earlier life transitions and the amount of control one has over the current situation are two of the factors that affect how a transition resolves itself.

In studies, people tend to rate certain life transitions as more challenging than others.  The Holmes and Rahe Scale, a measure of life stressors, places transitions involving death of a spouse, divorce, and marital separation at the top of its list.  Yet even positive life transitions such as marriage and pregnancy are not without challenges.  Studies suggest that spending time with people undergoing a similar transition can ease the process.

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Wylie Goodman, Psy.D.  .  900 Broadway, Suite 403  .  New York, NY  .  10003  .  917.601.5010  .  consult@east-westpsychotherapy.com

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