Transformational Change

Transformational Change is a learning a learning process that one must go through when faced with a significant change in their life that has caused a serious shift in the way a person has been living their lives. While not all transformational changes are negative events that we have experienced, the changes that we have to get through. While studying the topic of transformational change, Jack Mezirow, who conducted research on adults who have engaged in a transformational change, determined that there are seven phases that occur in this learning process. These phases include: 1. Experiencing a disorienting dilemma, 2. Self-examination, 3.Critical assessment of assumptions, 4. Recognizing that others have gone through a similar process, 5. Exploring a process, 6. Formulating a plan of action, 7. Reintergration (Clugston, 2009).
While thinking back to my life and some of the transformational changes that I have experiences, two quickly come to mind. When I was very young, I got married and had two children. Shortly after my son was born, I noticed a big change in my husband and while at the time, I couldn’t put my finger on what he was doing, I knew that something was not right. After my son’s first birthday party, I found out exactly what my husband was up to, he had allowed the stress of his job, and raising two children push him to using crack cocaine. Although I did not know how long he had been using the drugs or where, he was nonetheless my husband and I loved him so my first goal was to get him some help. My mother picked up my children to get them out of the environment and I tried to convince my husband to go to rehab and receive help for his drug problem. After hours of talking, he decided to leave and never return. My life instantly changed. My two children were now my sole responsibility and I knew that my job would not provide enough income to take care of two small children so I had to make several changes. My first experience was sifting through the dilemma and trying to figure out a
reasonable solution to this problem. I became depressed and then had to formulate a plan to get myself out of this bad situation so that I could move forward for my children and myself. I divorced my husband and moved forward.