Kubler-Ross’s Five-Stage Model

Because I have not personally had such an experience where I was in a leadership position and initiated or been affected by change, I thought I would reflect on how our country as a group as forgone visible change after Donald Trump became our president elect. So at the core, the initial change our country is going through is the transition of presidency from Barack Obama to Donald Trump. This change was caused at the root by a feeling of dissatisfaction and unrest in the way the general public saw this country was being run. The accumulation of horrific events on top of feels of being an unheard group led Donald Trump to win over the electoral collage. I find that the model that most closely embodies this recent change is Kubler-Ross’s five-stage model. This model revolves around five stages of grief, which include denial, anger, bargaining, depression and finally acceptance.

Personally, I never believed that Donald Trump could seriously become our nation’s president, nor do I believe I was the only American to think this way. So naturally, my initial reaction to the election was denial. I believed the results must somehow have been mistaken, and I chose to cling to a false, preferable reality. I told myself that what I was seeing on my television screen at three in the morning was merely a huge gaff that would go down in history. Clearly, however I was incorrect. This denial is simply a method of rejecting a source or change and not absorbing its reality.

Next, comes anger. When the individual recognizes that denial cannot continue, they become frustrated. I’m sure myself, along with other appalled voters are asking “How could this happen to me?” or “This is completely unfair”. Although anger is not productive it serves as an outlet to process change.

The third stage, bargaining, involves the hope that the individual can avoid a cause of grief. Although this stage may not be completely realistic in the example of