MANAGING CHANGE

by Pamela Brewer, MSW, Ph.D., LCSW-C


Change is usually a scary thing. Change you choose and change you don’t
choose can be equally scary. Join the human club. Human beings usually find
themselves struggling with at least some anxiety when it comes to thinking about
and dealing with change. Change usually represents a loss of some kind â€" even
a good loss (i.e. you are no longer poor â€" you’ve just won the lottery) can
be difficult to manage. Past change experiences impact heavily on the way you
experience and manage change today. If a change catapults you into what feels
like depression â€" please meet with a mental health professional for an
evaluation. Short term or longer term outpatient psychotherapy may be the
treatmentof choice (with or without medication) depending on the nature, the duration
and the impact of the change you are experiencing.

CHANGE MANAGEMENT

Be patient with yourself as you take the time to adjust to and manage the
change. Healthy life includes some change. Remember that life is about change
and risk-taking. A healthy approach to change and risk taking is empowering.
Are you willing to risk the consequences of NOT taking the risk?


1. RECOGNIZE THAT CHANGE IS TRAUMATIC. YOU ARE IN CRISIS AND YOU ARE
GRIEVING.

2. ALLOW YOURSELF TO GRIEVE THE CHANGE, RECOGNIZING THAT IGNORING THE CHANGE
WILL NOT MAKE IT GO AWAY â€" INSTEAD IGNORING THE CHANGE IS LIKELY TO CREATE THE
THINGS YOU MOST FEAR.

3. IDENTIFY YOUR FEARS ABOUT THE CHANGE. TAKE YOUR TIME WITH THIS. THINK
BACK TO THE LAST TIME YOU DEALT WITH CHANGE. WHAT DID IT FEEL LIKE? WHAT
RESOURCES DID YOU USE? WHERE DID YOU GET INTO TROUBLE?

4. IDENTIFY WHAT IT WOULD TAKE TO REDUCE THE FEARS. BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC
ABOUT THIS. YOU ARE FIRST IDENTIFYING NO MORE THAN THREE THINGS THAT WOULD HELP
TO REDUCE THE FEARS.

5. AFTER YOU HAVE IDENTIFIED THOSE THINGS THAT COULD REDUCE THE TRAUMA OF THE
CHANGE â€" BEGIN TO DEVELOP A SMALL, DAILY LIST OF SMALL TASKS. GENTLY AND
REASONABLY BEING TO DEVELOP YOUR CHANGE MANAGEMENT PLAN.

6. TREAT YOURSELF AS THOUGH YOU ARE IN CRISIS â€" BE GENTLE, BE PATIENT, BE
KIND.

7. BUILD IN BREAKS FROM YOUR CHANGE PLAN â€" WHETHER IT’S A FIVE MINUTE WALK
OR A TWO MINUTE HELLO TO A FRIEND.

8. DO NOT USE ADDICTIONS AS A WAY TO HELP MANAGE THE CHANGE PAIN.

9. IF YOU FEEL IMMOBILIZED â€" CONSIDER MEETING WITH A MENTAL HEALTH
PROFESSIONAL.

10. IF YOU SEE THE CHANGE AS ONE THAT HAS BEEN FORCED ON YOU â€" YOU CAN WORK
TO CHANGE THE EXPERIENCE OF ANGER AND POWERLESSNESS AS YOU CONSIDER YOUR SHORT
TERM AND LONG TERM GOALS, YOUR OPTIONS (YOU ALWAYS HAVE THEM!) AND FOCUS ON
RECLAIMING YOUR POWER IN YOUR LIFE.



The distance between insanity and genius is measured only by success.