Five pillars, one structure
The AURIS Framework organises identity work into five sequenced pillars. Each pillar addresses a distinct psychological task, and together they form a clear pathway from disruption to stability.
- A — Awareness: noticing what is happening, without judgement.
- U — Understanding: making sense of why it is happening.
- R — Regulation: practising the skills that steady the system.
- I — Identity: rebuilding a coherent sense of self.
- S — Stability: integrating change into durable everyday life.
Why this sequence
The order matters. People are often pushed toward behaviour change before they have language for what they are experiencing. AURIS slows the entry point. Awareness and Understanding come first because regulation, identity work and stability cannot land without them.
This is why AURIS supports people across the Recognise → Reframe → Reconnect journey: recognising what has changed, reframing what it means, and reconnecting with purpose, people and place.
Where it is used
AURIS is used with veterans, emergency-service personnel, NHS staff, elite athletes, military families and individuals navigating significant role change. It also informs the AURIS's research, pilot programmes and partnerships with organisations.
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- → For IndividualsApply AURIS to your own transition.
- → For OrganisationsBring AURIS into your workforce.
Related research papers
- Identity in Occupational Transition: Evidence, Research and Future Directions for UK PolicyGardner, G. (2025). AURIS.
- Identity Performance Psychology | White Paper Vol. 2DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19818259
- Behavioural Change Through Structured AwarenessDOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17698830
Continue exploring related research
Further reading from the Knowledge Hub on the same themes.
- Foundations · 1 min readWhat is Identity?
Identity is the stable sense of who you are across time, roles and relationships. It shapes how you think, decide, regulate emotion and connect with others.
- Foundations · 1 min readWhat is Identity Performance Psychology?
Identity Performance Psychology (IPP) is the field that studies how a stable sense of self enables sustained performance, regulation and wellbeing across high-demand roles.
- Foundations · 1 min readWhy Identity Matters
Identity sits beneath wellbeing, performance, recovery and belonging. When we ignore it, support stalls. When we centre it, change becomes sustainable.
- Foundations · 1 min readWhat is Occupational Transition?
Occupational transition is the structured change of a person's primary role, leaving the military, the NHS, emergency services, elite sport or another high-identity occupation.
- Research · 4 min readThe Identity Gap in Service Leaver Support: Why It Matters
Practical resettlement support is comprehensive, yet our review of UK transition guidance found very little explicit discussion of identity as a psychological process. This article explains what we examined, what we found, and where identity adaptation fits alongside existing support.
About the author
Gemma Gardner
Founder and Research Lead, AURIS Institute
Gemma Gardner leads the AURIS research programme on identity and occupational transition. Her work builds the evidence base behind the AURIS Framework and the Identity System, drawing on interviews with service leavers, families and the organisations that support them.
- Lead author, Identity Performance Psychology white paper series
- Principal investigator, AURIS identity adaptation interview programme
- Author of AURIS submissions on identity in occupational transition
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