The Identity Gap in Service Leaver Support: Why It Matters

Looking beyond practical support

For decades, transition support for service leavers has focused on helping people prepare for civilian life through practical guidance. Advice on employment, pensions, housing, education, healthcare and finances forms the backbone of most transition programmes, providing essential support during a significant life change.

But one question continues to emerge throughout our research. What happens when someone no longer knows who they are?

At the AURIS Institute, our research explores what we believe is one of the least understood aspects of transition, the process of identity adaptation.

The purpose of our research has never been to criticise existing transition services. The organisations supporting serving personnel, veterans and their families provide an enormous amount of practical guidance that helps thousands of people every year. Instead, our work asks whether there is another dimension of transition that deserves greater attention.

Our research question is simple. Where does identity-focused support fit within the existing transition journey?

Rather than examining whether practical support exists, we wanted to understand whether current systems explicitly recognise the psychological process of rebuilding identity after leaving a role that has shaped someone's life for many years.

What we examined

As part of the Identity After the Uniform research programme, we conducted a structured review of official UK transition guidance alongside our ongoing interview programme.

The document review included strategic policy, operational tools and front-line guidance used by service leavers, providing a broad picture of the support currently available during transition.

A consistent pattern

Across the documents reviewed, we found comprehensive information covering practical aspects of transition, including healthcare, employment, housing, financial planning and family support. Mental health and wellbeing are also recognised throughout the guidance.

However, we found very little explicit discussion of identity as a psychological process.

The practical challenges of leaving service are well addressed, but the experience of losing a professional identity, adapting to new roles, rebuilding purpose and developing a renewed sense of self is not explored in the same depth.

Rather than appearing as an isolated omission, this pattern was consistent across multiple documents and levels of guidance.

Why identity matters

Our interview programme continues to reinforce an important observation. Many individuals successfully complete every practical aspect of resettlement yet still describe feeling uncertain about who they are after leaving service.

For some, this involves adapting to civilian employment. For others, it involves changes in structure, purpose, belonging or professional identity that continue long after the transition process has officially ended.

This does not suggest existing support has failed. Instead, it suggests that practical transition and identity adaptation may be addressing different needs. One prepares people for civilian life. The other helps people adapt to becoming someone new within it.

An international conversation

Although our document review focused on UK service leaver guidance, the wider academic literature suggests these questions are not unique to the UK.

Research from the United States, Canada, Australia and Europe has explored identity disruption during military transition, highlighting themes such as loss of role, changes in belonging, and the challenge of integrating military and civilian identities.

Similar themes are increasingly being explored among emergency service professionals, where retirement or career transition can involve comparable experiences of identity change.

Where AURIS fits

The AURIS Institute does not seek to replace existing transition support. Our research suggests there may be an opportunity to strengthen it.

Identity adaptation should be viewed as a complementary element within the broader transition journey, sitting alongside practical resettlement, healthcare, employment support and wellbeing services rather than replacing them.

Our ongoing work aims to contribute evidence that informs practitioners, researchers, charities, policymakers and organisations supporting people through significant life transitions.

Research in progress

Identity After the Uniform remains an active programme of research. Our interview study continues to expand, with findings being refined as new evidence is collected and independently reviewed.

As with all AURIS Institute research, we are committed to presenting findings transparently, distinguishing clearly between established evidence, emerging patterns and areas requiring further investigation.

Continue exploring the research

The AURIS Knowledge Hub brings together evidence, insights and practical resources exploring identity adaptation, behaviour change, human performance and life transitions across military, emergency services, healthcare and wider society.

As our research develops, new findings and publications will be added to support practitioners, organisations and individuals interested in understanding how identity influences long-term wellbeing, performance and sustainable change.