*'''Anger:''' "Why is this happening to me?" A frustrated outpouring of bottled-up emotionemotions. Making decisions at this point is difficult because all of one's energy gets put into the emotion emotions rather than problem-solving, and the other partner is usually vilifiedand often unfairly demonized.*'''Dialogue and bargaining:''' "I promise I'll be a better person if..." Seeking in vain for a way out; seeking paths that might offer a solution. People at this stage are generally become = more willing to explore alternativesand discuss compromise.*'''Depression and detachment:''' "I just don't care anymore." A final realization of the inevitable. It is 's hard to make reasonable decisions at this stage because of the an overwhelming, fatalistic sense of resignation.*'''Acceptance:''' "I'm ready for whatever comes." Finally finding the way forward. Decisions are much easier to make because people have often found new purpose, finally having begun to accept the their loss.

Dr. Robert Emery agrees that the KublerKübler-Ross model applies to separatingthe end of long-term relationships, but he looks at the grief process in a slightly different way. In his book ''[http://www.worldcat.org/title/renegotiating-family-relationships-divorce-child-custody-and-mediation/oclc/30474579 Renegotiating Family Relationships]'', Dr. Emery describes the grieving process as a cycle of love, anger, and sadness, which gets repeated in varying degrees of intensity as a person works their way through the Kubler-Ross stages, from shock and denial through to acceptance of the end of the relationship.