What is Constructed Awareness?
Constructed Awareness is a nonviolent, resource-based approach to psychotherapy developed by Tyler Orr, LPC, that is informed by his work with EMDR, body-centered therapy, attachment theory, and mindfulness. Constructed Awareness provides a blueprint for deep insight and freedom from a variety of mental health issues by relying on three principles:
Bringing awareness to your experience changes your experience. If you’re like most, you were brought up with the belief that hard work is the answer to getting what you want. Though this is true for many task-oriented achievements, willpower alone doesn’t work to regulate your emotional experience, despite the fact that many of the more popular approaches to therapy are rooted in this very notion. Inner peace isn’t earned through willpower; rather, it’s discovered simply by observing your inner experience. Observation alone has the power to bring the change you’ve been looking for all along.
The human experience is made up of three building blocks: thoughts, sensations, and external senses. Constructed Awareness teaches a unique practice of bringing mindful awareness to one’s own experience—an experience that is constructed by thoughts, sensations, and external senses. In the training, we will look at how thoughts, sensation, and external senses make up the entire human experience, especially in regard to how they construct our emotional experiences and interpretations of self, others, and the world. Expanding awareness of how these three building blocks construct our experiences can transform how clients regulate and respond emotionally and relationally.
Most people naturally orient their awareness more strongly to one of the three building blocks. By this we mean some people spend more time in their minds analyzing, fantasizing, or planning. Whereas other people direct more attention to sensations and what they feel in their bodies. And some people focus more on what’s happening around them in their external environment. The Constructed Awareness training teaches both structured and informal techniques for determining how the client’s awareness is oriented. A typology of six personality types will be taught to help you and the client understand personality and character traits based on their orientation style. The training will also cover how to determine which resources would be more useful to deepen self-awareness and the ability to self-regulate based on the client’s specific needs.
What are people saying about Constructed Awareness?
“CA has been transformative to my practice. The idea that I can support my clients in becoming the best version of themselves in a non-violent way is life changing. CA is the blueprint for deep insight and emotional freedom from layers of trauma and attachment damage.”
Leah Sampson, MSW, LCSW, Director of Clinical Services, Three Oaks Behavioral Health and Wellness, Durham, NC
“The CA process helped to increase my awareness of how I view the world which also helped me to increase the way I regulate and process events both in the here and now and in the past. I'm so grateful for this experience!”
Monica Snyder, LMFT, Clinical Director, Wellspring Counseling, Miami, Florida
“This training really gave me a blueprint for how to be more present with my clients. I thoroughly enjoyed Tyler's teaching/coaching style and gained a deeper awareness of myself. I am confident that this training will vasty improve the therapeutic relationships that I build with my clients. The information is practical and I am impressed with how well this model works.”
Kourtney Young, LPC, EACC Counselor & Intake Coordinator, University of Alabama at Birmingham