BESST Transitions Blog

Welcome to the BESST Transitions Blog

Hello and welcome

I’m Dr. Anne TM Konkle, a university professor, researcher, and long-term caregiver to my now 20-year-old stepdaughter with autism. I’m also a mother, a widow, and someone who has navigated the deep, layered realities of life transitions: from parenting across neurodiversity to moving through grief, from perinatal mental health to the shifting terrain of perimenopause.

This blog is where my worlds meet, the academic and the deeply personal, to explore how stress, life transitions, and mental health shape the ways we adapt, cope, and sometimes even flourish in the midst of change. Through this space, I’ll share both research insights and lived experience, offering reflections and strategies grounded in science yet deeply human.

How the Lab’s Research Themes Inspired This Space

The BESST Laboratory, short for Biosocial Evaluation of Stress and Social Transitions in Mental Health, investigates how biological, psychological, and social factors intertwine to influence our mental health. We look at critical life phases such as pregnancy, parenting, midlife, aging, and moments of unexpected change — like becoming a caregiver overnight or experiencing profound loss.

The Science Behind the Stories

In research, “transitions” are more than just changes in circumstance, they are processes that affect our roles, relationships, routines, and sense of self (Schlossberg, 1981; Meleis et al., 2000; Munck et al, 2018). Transitions are classified into important types like developmental (e.g., parenthood), situational (e.g., sudden illness), and health-illness or organizational shifts (Munck et al, 2018), each connected to the themes this blog will explore. 

Each type of transition brings unique challenges, stressors, and opportunities for adaptation (Chick & Meleis, 1986). Life-span developmental psychology reminds us that our experiences are shaped not only by age or stage, but also by historical (e.g., pandemic) and non-normative transitions like illness or loss (Baltes et al, 1999).

This blog reflects those same themes, blending science with the stories that bring them to life. The name “BESST Transitions” captures this blend: grounded in data, alive with human narrative.

Why This Blog Matters to Me, Why Now

In November 2020, during the height of the pandemic, my husband, father to my children, was diagnosed with stage 4 terminal cancer. Overnight, I stepped into the role of his primary caregiver while continuing to care for my stepdaughter and our young son. Those years were a crash course in resilience, logistical problem-solving, and the quiet, complicated truths of love, loss, and responsibility.

Since his passing, I’ve often been asked how I manage to balance caregiving, parenting, my work, and my own health. The truth is: sometimes I didn’t/ I don’t. And sometimes, what “managing” looks like has nothing to do with balance at all. I hope that by sharing my experiences, alongside what we know from research, others navigating their own transitions will feel seen, and maybe find something helpful along the way.

Navigating these transitions has shaped my perspective as a researcher: I’ve seen how theoretical frameworks, like transition theory, help explain the interplay of stress, role shifts, and adaptation, but lived experience adds depth that research alone cannot capture.

What to Expect Here

In the months ahead, you can expect:

• Caregiving Insights — what I’ve learned (and am still learning) about long-term caregiving for an adult child with autism.

• Mental Health Through Life Stages — reflections and research on perinatal mental health, perimenopause, and midlife transitions.

• Life, Loss, and Resilience — stories of navigating grief and identity changes while highlighting scientific understanding.

• Bridging Science & Story — translating research into practical insights for everyday life.

• Community & Connection — engaging with readers to share experiences and foster understanding.

An Invitation

Transitions, whether anticipated or sudden, shape us in ways we can’t always predict. If you’ve ever navigated change, joyful, challenging, or both, you’ll find yourself at home here. I invite you to join me in exploring them, not as checklists to get through, but as experiences to understand and learn from. Whether you’re here as a caregiver, a parent, a health professional, a researcher, or simply someone navigating change, I hope you’ll find both knowledge, reflection, and companionship in these pages.

Here’s to navigating the BESST of life’s transitions…together.

#MentalHealth #Family #Transitions #WomensHealth #Neurodiversity #PeripartumMentalHealth #PerimenopausalMentalHealth 

References:

Baltes PB, Staudinger UM, Lindenberger U. (1999). Lifespan psychology: Theory and application to intellectual functioning. Annual Review of Psychology, 50, 471–507.  DOI: 10.1146/annurev.psych.50.1.471.

Chick N, Meleis AI. (1986). Transitions: A nursing concern. In P. L. Chinn (Ed.), Nursing Research Methodology (pp. 237–257). Aspen.

Meleis A, Sawyer LM, Im E, Hilfinger Messias DK, Schumacher K. (2000). Experiencing Transitions: An Emerging Middle-Range Theory. Advances in Nursing Science, 23 (1), 12-28. DOI: 10.1097/00012272-200009000-00006

Munck B, Björklund A, Jansson I, Lundberg K, Wagman P. Adulthood transitions in health and welfare; a literature review. Nurs Open. 2018 Mar 6;5(3):254-260. doi: 10.1002/nop2.136.

Schlossberg, N. K. (1981). A model for analyzing human adaptation to transition. The Counseling Psychologist, 9(2), 2–18. doi.org/10.1177/001100008100900202