Handling Emotional Reactions to Change

O’Connor, Edward J. and Fiol, C. Marlena
Physician Executive Vol. 32 Issue 6, p. 78-80

The article presents the authors’ views on handling individual emotional reactions to change. Individual emotional reactions to change go through several phases including naive confidence, denial, depression and informed hopefulness. It is important to understand and manage the transitions of people through these phases. After diagnosing a particular phase of emotional transition, specific actions can be taken toward the next phase of emotional transition.