Skip to content
Institute for Adult Development
Home · Documentation · Practitioner Handbook
Practitioner Handbook

Using CDT Responsibly in Practice

This handbook provides practical guidance for coaches, leaders, educators, therapists, and Academic Practitioners who work with Constructed Development Theory (CDT), Awareness Quotient (AQ), and Thinking Quotient (TQ) in live contexts.

Section 1

Getting Started as a CDT Practitioner

Practising under the Institute’s banner implies more than using CDT language. It reflects a commitment to live awareness, developmental responsibility, and ongoing self-construction. The focus is not on “doing techniques” but on how you construct yourself and the work in the moment.

1.1 Minimum Orientation

Before working with clients, students, or organisations using CDT, you should be familiar with:

  • The core premise of Constructed Development Theory.
  • Awareness Quotient (AQ) levels and what they describe.
  • Thinking Quotient (TQ) and Cognitive Intentions (CIs) at a functional level.
  • The CAIR / IACR loop: Intention, Awareness, Choice, Response.
Reminder: Clients do not need to know the full theory. Your responsibility is to use CDT to deepen their awareness and choice, not to overwhelm them with internal models.

1.2 Practitioner Mindset

A CDT-aligned practitioner works from the following stance:

  • “I am always part of the system I’m observing.”
  • “My own CIs and AQ level shape how I see this client or context.”
  • “My role is to expand their construction, not to impose mine.”
Curiosity over certainty Awareness over diagnosis Development over performance
Section 2

Developmental Contracting

Contracting in CDT is not just about logistics and goals; it is about clarifying the developmental nature of the work. You are inviting clients into a process that may challenge how they construct self and reality.

2.1 Core Elements of a CDT Contract

  • Explain that the work focuses on how they think, not just what they think.
  • Clarify the use of any profiling tools (AQ/TQ/CI-based assessments) and how results will be used.
  • Set expectations about reflection, experimentation, and discomfort as part of development.
  • Agree boundaries: confidentiality, scope of work, and referral routes if needed.

2.2 Example Developmental Question

Simple language can still be deeply developmental. For example:

“Are you willing to look at the way you construct this situation, not just try to fix the situation itself?”

Tip: Keep contracts in human language. Internal CDT terms can stay in your notes and supervision; clients only need enough structure to feel safe and oriented.
Section 3

Working with AQ & TQ

AQ and TQ scores are developmental indicators, not verdicts. They describe how someone typically constructs awareness and thinking now, in context, with room for movement.

Helpful Uses
  • Framing realistic developmental aims (“from AQ4→AQ5 ways of seeing”).
  • Designing questions that match or gently stretch the client’s current construction.
  • Helping clients notice patterns in how they respond to complexity or ambiguity.
Unhelpful Uses
  • Labelling: “You are an AQ5 person.”
  • Ranking or shaming (“AQ8 is better than AQ5”).
  • Using scores as a gatekeeping tool rather than a developmental guide.

3.1 Sharing Profiles with Clients

When sharing any AQ/TQ or CI profile, ensure you:

  • Normalise all results as developmental, not diagnostic.
  • Invite their perspective: “What do you recognise? What feels off?”
  • Focus on possibility: “What becomes available if this shifts?”
Section 4

Session & Programme Design

CDT does not prescribe a single “right” format. Instead, it invites you to design sessions that reflect the client’s current AQ/TQ and the context you’re working in (coaching, leadership, teaching, therapy, etc.).

4.1 A Simple CDT-Informed Session Flow

  • Intention: What are we really here to work on today? (Beyond surface problem.)
  • Awareness: How are you currently constructing this? What assumptions are in play?
  • Choice: What alternative constructions become possible if we see this differently?
  • Response: What will you actually do between now and next time?

4.2 Designing Developmental Programmes

When building multi-session programmes (e.g., leadership pathways, teaching development, emotional connection work), consider:

  • Starting at the client’s current AQ/TQ rather than your ideal.
  • Layering in complexity: from concrete examples → patterns → meta-level reflection.
  • Making construction visible: metaphors, diagrams, and real-time modelling of thinking.
Design check: If your programme could be delivered identically to people at AQ4 and AQ8, it is probably not genuinely developmental yet.
Section 5

Supervision & Reflective Practice

Supervision in CDT is itself developmental. The focus is less on “what happened” and more on how you constructed what happened and what that reveals about your own AQ and CIs.

5.1 Suggested Reflection Template

After sessions or teaching moments, you might ask yourself:

  • What was my Intention going in? Did it shift?
  • What did I become aware of (in myself, in them, in the context)?
  • Where did I still feel “stuck” inside my own construction?
  • What Choice points did I notice but not take?
  • How might I respond differently next time from a higher AQ position?

5.2 Using Supervision Effectively

Bring to supervision:

  • Moments where you felt over-identified or triggered.
  • Cases where you felt “ahead of” or “behind” the client developmentally.
  • Questions about your own CI patterns (“What was my Own/Partner/Observer here?”).
Important: Supervision is not a performance review. It is a shared developmental space where your own construction can be seen, held, and expanded.