Schlossberg, Tiedeman, Liptak

Nancy K. Schlossberg is a professor emerita at the University of Maryland, College Park, as well as creator of TransitionWorks, a consulting firm. Schlossberg began developing the Transition Theory in 1981. The main ideas of the theory are as follows:

•  Development of a systematic framework that would facilitate an understanding of adults in transition and direct them to the help they needed to cope with the stress they encounter
• The transition theory describes three different types of transitions- anticipated, unanticipated, and non-anticipated events.
• For an individual undergoing a transition, the impact, or degree to which the transition alters one’s daily life is also important.
• Four major factors, known as the “4 S’s,” that influence the ability of an individual to cope during a transition: situation, self, support, and strategies. 

Anna Miller-Tiedeman developed the Lifecareer Theory in 1988 which describes the inner experienc of decision-making. The main tenets of Tiedeman's theory are: 

•  Career choice is seen as development of the ego-identity over the life-spam. The ego-identity develops through the mechanism of the differentiation and reintegration
• A decision making process can be devised into two phases: anticipation and implementation.
• The anticipation phase consist of 4 steps: exploration, crystallization (awareness is focused on particular and individual patterns of choice), choice and clarification.
• The implementation stage consist of 3 steps: induction (entry into job), reformation (becoming proficient in the job) and reintegration (meaningful methods of experience).

John Liptak is currently working as the associate director of career services at Radford University. His current research focus is emotional intelligence training for students transitioning from college to the workplace, and the quantitative and qualitative assessment of emotional intelligence. Liptak has written numerous publications on emotional intelligence.