ADVANCED CERTIFICATION IN LIFE TRANSITIONS 

This module is the most academic as it presents the basis for our work. It includes:

• Bill Bridges’ seminal work on transitions.
• Stanford’s Carol Dweck’s research on mindset.
• Stanford’s Kelly McGonigal and Berkeley’s Jane McGonigal’s popular reviews of the literature and original research on stress and mindset.
• Harvard’s Marty Linsky and Ronald Heifetz’s research in adapting to change.

As you can see, this module is packed with the science behind the skillset, protocols and tools of the Financial Transitionist®.

Purpose Method Outcome (PMO) is the structure for using the tools, where the tool or protocol is the Method. PMO is about getting to the client’s why for the work they’re doing.

Communication Preferences is the first tool introduced. It is designed to allow clients to quickly identify their primary communication preferences for meeting with advisors, receiving information, and making decisions.

Transitions often go very well, as we discuss with our Traits of Transition Flow. On the other hand, sometimes clients have difficulty processing their life event and the myriad associated changes in relationships, expectations, and priorities. We call those difficulties Traits of Transition Struggle, and they have relatively predictable patterns of behavior and consequences. This module digs deep into the traits, including how to identify them and their relationship to the science of responsivity and reactivity, and it introduces the tools that most skillfully addresses them. Usage of the traits clearly demonstrates that the client is the driver of the work with the Financial Transitionist®. The traits will be revisited in each subsequent module.

The Decision Free Zone (DFZ) was created to increase executive functioning when the client is faced with important decisions and commitments. Structure is calming and it increases the ability to comprehend, see options, and understand consequences. Some clients, however, are not in the best position to successfully work with the structure of the DFZ because they have a gnawing concern–a narrow focus–that needs to be addressed first.

This is what Financial Triage is for, and precedes the DFZ for those clients who need it.

One-Page Overviews are presentation tools that make use of the science of data visualization, which informs us that appropriately crafted visuals dramatically improve absorption, retention and recall. One-Pagers create alignment between advisor and client as well as alignment within the client themselves, and the how, when and why of using them is discussed.

Managing Expectations is vital to the work of transitions in that it is often expectations (spoken and not) that create confusion and conflict both within the client and in their relationships. 

What if . . . is a way to explore the spectrum of options that opens up when life circumstances shift.

The Written Case, which is the final Client Experience project, is introduced.

When a client is struggling, “Am I Okay?” and “What has Changed?” are tools that can be used separately or together, depending on the circumstance. They provide clients with relief about their short-term cash flow as well as other parts of their lives that are of concern.

Touchstone helps clients make important decisions–particularly when they are choosing among several options–by helping them identify times when they felt complete, and in flow, or most happy. The goal is to recall that feeling and use it as a guide.

The Written Case is the time for the advisor to demonstrate their training-in-action through a written and verbal presentation. This represents the culmination and integration of the tools and shows the faculty that the advisor knows the content of the course and that their practice embodies the teaching.