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Introduction to AURIS

When life changes, identity changes too.

By the end you will be able to name what has changed in how you see yourself, and describe it in your own words.

Part of the AURIS approach to identity, stability and human development.

  • Foundation
  • Free
  • Certificate on completion

Discover why identity matters, how it shapes the way we think, feel and behave, and why rebuilding begins long before confidence returns.

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This course is free. You will be asked to sign in or create a free account, then the first lesson opens.

Introduction to AURIS cover: a person walking through an open stone doorway onto a sunlit path, beside the words Something has changed.

Where this course fits

Where it sits
Step 1 of the four course Foundation, the free starting sequence in AURIS Academy.
What usually comes before
Nothing. This is a starting point, and the free Introduction to AURIS is always open alongside it.
What usually comes next
Understanding Identity opens when you finish this one. See that course.

A pathway is a suggested order, not a requirement. Nothing here has to be bought to make this course work.

The pathways it belongs to

  • Part of the After Service pathway: Leaving the military: what happens to who you are?

A pathway is a suggested order, not a requirement. This course can be taken on its own.

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About this course

A short, free introduction to identity adaptation and the AURIS Framework. It explains what changes when a defining role ends, and why identity comes before employability.

What you will learn

  • Describe what identity adaptation means in plain language.
  • Explain why identity comes before employability in transition support.
  • Name the five pillars of the AURIS Framework and what each one covers.
  • Recognise where you are in your own adaptation.

Why this matters

Primary pillar: Identity. This course builds Identity by starting from who you are rather than what you are employable for, so everything that follows in the Academy has a person at the centre of it.

Course curriculum

9 lessons. The lesson content itself opens once you start the course.

  1. Lesson 1 · about 12 minutes

    Why identity, not employability

    Understand why finding a new job does not resolve the deeper loss of leaving a role that defined you.

    • Explain why a new job does not resolve identity loss.
    • Describe identity adaptation in one sentence.

  2. Lesson 2 · about 10 minutes

    The five pillars

    Learn the five AURIS pillars, the shape of everything else in the Academy.

    • Name each pillar of the AURIS Framework.
    • Match a pillar to a real situation.

  3. Lesson 3 · about 12 minutes

    Recognise, Reframe, Reconnect

    Learn the three-part shape of AURIS work: Recognise, Reframe, Reconnect.

    • Describe the three movements of AURIS work.
    • Identify which movement you are in.

  4. Lesson 4 · about 8 minutes

    What support looks like

    Understand what AURIS support actually is, and is not, so you can choose what to use.

    • Describe what AURIS support involves.
    • Decide what your own next step is.

  5. Lesson 5 · about 14 minutes

    Stoic philosophy: what is yours to carry

    By the end of this lesson you will be able to sort a current worry into what is yours to act on and what is not.

    • Separate what you control from what you do not.
    • Describe how judgement sits between an event and a reaction.

  6. Lesson 6 · about 14 minutes

    Neuroscience: a nervous system doing its job

    By the end of this lesson you will be able to describe your own early physical signs of stress without treating them as a fault.

    • Explain the threat response in plain language.
    • Describe why prediction makes change feel unsafe.
    • Define neuroplasticity and what it means for practice.

  7. Lesson 7 · about 12 minutes

    Anchoring: deliberate cues for state

    By the end of this lesson you will have chosen one deliberate cue for a state you want to reach on demand.

    • Describe what an anchor is and how one is built.
    • Use an anchor honestly, without overclaiming.

  8. Lesson 8 · about 14 minutes

    Behavioural science: designing for the bad week

    By the end of this lesson you will be able to shrink one habit until it survives a bad week.

    • Use friction and cues to shape behaviour.
    • Write an if then plan for a known obstacle.

  9. Lesson 9 · about 12 minutes

    The humanistic approach: the person, not the case

    By the end of this lesson you will be able to say what you want from this course in your own words.

    • Describe the humanistic stance AURIS is delivered in.
    • Explain why autonomy improves outcomes.

What is included

  • Audio narration
  • Guided reflections
  • Interactive exercises
  • Practical activities
  • Assessment
  • Portfolio work
  • Certificate on completion

Research and evidence

Drawn from the AURIS parliamentary evidence review and the white paper Identity After the Uniform, alongside published work on occupational identity and role exit. Stoic content added 18 August 2026: LeBon, T., Brown, G., DiGiuseppe, R., Karl, J., Fischer, R., & Lopez, G. (2025). The development and validation of the stoic attitudes and behaviours scale. Cognitive Therapy and Research. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-025-10635-9 Purpose/belonging/community content added 18 August 2026: Wakefield, J.R.H., Bowe, M., & Kellezi, B. et al. (2024). Brothers and sisters in arms. British Journal of Social Psychology; O'Brien, C. et al. (2025). Global Approaches to Supporting Mental Health and Resettlement for Veterans With Embodied Trauma. Counselling and Psychotherapy Research; scoping review (2026), Transitioning to Civilian Life: How Are Life Meaning, Purpose and Identity Related to Wellbeing for Veterans?

Common questions

Is Introduction to AURIS really free?
Yes. It is free to enrol on and stays free. There is no trial, no card and no upgrade needed to finish it, and you only need a free account so your progress and certificate stay with you.
Do I get a certificate?
Yes. Finishing the course issues an AURIS Certificate of Completion in your name. It records your learning. It is not a qualification, accreditation or licence to practise, which is what the separate AURIS Practitioner Certification is for.
How long does it take, and is it self-paced?
It is self-paced. Once you enrol, every lesson is open, there is no deadline and nothing expires.
Do I need to do anything before this course?
No. You can start here. The courses are written to stand on their own, and a pathway is only a suggested order rather than a requirement.

Course progression

  1. Foundation
  2. Applied
  3. Practitioner

This is the first step for every learner in the Academy. It opens the Foundations tier.

Related courses

The evidence behind this course

Evidence

  • Identity After the Uniform — AURIS (source)

    Identity comes before employability in occupational transition, and role exit disrupts identity as well as income.

  • AURIS parliamentary evidence review — AURIS

    Findings on occupational identity and role exit that this course's framing is drawn from.

How AURIS interprets it

  • AURIS reads this evidence as showing that transition support which starts with a CV, before identity, is starting in the wrong place for most people.
  • AURIS names five pillars (Awareness, Understanding, Regulation, Identity, Stability) as the working structure for that identity work, not as a finding from the research itself.

What you do with it

  • You describe what identity adaptation means in plain language and recognise where you are in your own adaptation.
  • You name the five pillars of the AURIS Framework and what each one covers, as the map for the rest of the Academy.

Ready to begin?

This course is free. You will be asked to log in or create a free account.

Start LearningBack to the course catalogue