Fisher’s transition curve (Fisher, 2012) identifies eight stages in the following order:

• anxiety (here there is a speech bubble asking ‘Can I cope?’
• happiness (here there is a speech bubble saying ‘At last something’s going to change’)
• fear (here there is a speech bubble asking ‘What impact will this have? How will it affect me?’)
• threat (here there is a speech bubble saying ‘This is bigger than I thought!’)
• guilt (here there is a speech bubble asking ‘Did I really do that?’)
• depression (here there is a speech bubble asking ‘Who am I?’)
• gradual acceptance (here there is a speech bubble saying ‘I can see myself in the future’)
• moving forward (here there is a speech bubble saying ‘This can work and be good’).

There are also sub-stages that branch off from the main curve:

• denial – this sub-stage branches away from happiness (here there is a speech bubble asking ‘Change? What change?’)
• anger – this sub-stage branches away from happiness
• disillusionment – this sub-stage branches away from threat (here there is a speech bubble saying ‘I’m off! … this isn’t for me!’)
• hostility – this sub-stage branches away from depression (here there is a speech bubble asking ‘I’ll make this work if it kills me!!’)
• Complacency – this sub-stage is greyed out. It begins at anxiety and continues all the way to moving forward.