AWAKEN | Affinita Consulting

What is AWAKEN™?

AWAKEN™ is a transformative set of evidence-informed practices designed to help individuals and teams make decisions with clarity, compassion, and intention. Rooted in reflection, relational awareness, and trauma-conscious inquiry, AWAKEN™ guides us through a process of learning and unlearning—so we can move beyond automatic reactions and into conscious, values-driven action. It supports people in examining how their perspectives and environments shape their choices—and how to shift those patterns to foster greater safety, trust, and belonging. At its core, AWAKEN™ helps us focus our attention, center our intentions, and engage in decision-making that is mindful, inclusive, and grounded in shared humanity. Whether you're navigating personal growth, professional challenges, or community care, AWAKEN™ offers tools to pause, reflect, and choose with purpose.

Why AWAKEN™ Matters

In a world shaped by complexity, urgency, and bias, our decisions carry weight. AWAKEN™ helps us slow down and tune in—so we can respond rather than react, listen rather than assume, and lead with integrity rather than habit.

This practice is especially powerful in spaces where decisions impact lives—like child welfare, social work, education, and healing professions. But its wisdom applies to all of us. Because every moment is a choice, and every choice is an opportunity to build safety, trust, and belonging.

Rooted in our values — compassion, courage, curiosity, connection, and community — AWAKEN is designed to help individuals, teams, and organizations:

Increase awareness of bias and diverse perspectives

Foster safety, trust, and belonging

Strengthen teams by building relationships, connection, and community

Implement strategies to plan forward and reflect back

Create sustainable conscious decision-making habits

The Practices

AWARENESS that my perspective influences me.
We begin by noticing what’s present—our thoughts, emotions, sensations, and biases. Awareness is the flashlight that illuminates our inner landscape and helps us see how our perspective shapes our decisions.

WONDER how my perspective influence my actions.
Wonder invites us to get curious about our beliefs, values, and lived experiences. It’s a courageous exploration of the stories we carry and the lenses through which we see the world.

ASK about other perspectives.
ASK is the practice of conscious listening and inquiry. It helps us expand our view by inviting in voices, experiences, and truths that may be absent from our current awareness—especially those that challenge or stretch us.

KNOWING from learning and unlearning.
KNOWING is discernment. It’s the pause where we reflect on what we’ve discovered, question what we’ve assumed, and integrate new insights. It’s not about certainty—it’s about clarity.

ENGAGE in decisions that build safety, trust, and belonging.
ENGAGE is where awareness becomes action. It’s the moment we choose to respond in alignment with our values, building safety, trust, and belonging through intentional decisions.

NEW NEUROPATHWAYS to build AWAKEN practice habits.
The final step is about sustainability. We commit to practices that reinforce our learning, disrupt old patterns, and create lasting change—one decision at a time.

in Practice

South Carolina Department of Social Services (DSS) statewide implementation for case managers, supervisors, and leaders since 2019.

Advanced Practitioner training to systems-focused critical incident review teams in 22 public child welfare member jurisdictions in the National Partnership for Child Safety since 2021.

Oregon Department of Human Services has begun statewide implementation beginning with the child abuse hotline (ORCAH) team in 2025 and expanding in 2026.

To learn more about the facets of AWAKEN™ and how it can change your organization, get in touch. We’d love to give you a closer look.

REFLECTING ON AWAKEN

WORDS FROM PEOPLE WE'VE TRAINED

I see things differently now I am tuned into my bias. It’s impossible not to use that lens now. The film has been lifted from my eyes.

Why AWAKEN™ Matters

The Practices

​AWARENESS that my perspective influences me. We begin by noticing what’s present—our thoughts, emotions, sensations, and biases. Awareness is the flashlight that illuminates our inner landscape and helps us see how our perspective shapes our decisions.

WONDER how my perspective influence my actions. Wonder invites us to get curious about our beliefs, values, and lived experiences. It’s a courageous exploration of the stories we carry and the lenses through which we see the world.

ASK about other perspectives. ASK is the practice of conscious listening and inquiry. It helps us expand our view by inviting in voices, experiences, and truths that may be absent from our current awareness—especially those that challenge or stretch us.

KNOWING from learning and unlearning. KNOWING is discernment. It’s the pause where we reflect on what we’ve discovered, question what we’ve assumed, and integrate new insights. It’s not about certainty—it’s about clarity.

ENGAGE in decisions that build safety, trust, and belonging. ENGAGE is where awareness becomes action. It’s the moment we choose to respond in alignment with our values, building safety, trust, and belonging through intentional decisions.