Psychology. a group-therapy technique in which the aim is to enhance the participants' awareness of their particular needs and goals as individuals or as a group.
any method for increasing interpersonal awareness or sensitivity by teaching people to experience a situation or point of view radically different from their own.
The women's group has tried to change macho attitudes through consciousness-raising.
an act or instance of increasing the awareness of one's own or another's needs, behavior, attitudes, or problems.
An Americanism dating back to 1970–75
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It felt the way I imagine those famous ’70s consciousness-raising sessions must have felt: like simultaneous creation and discovery.
From Slate • Mar. 31, 2026
But for most of the play Ms. Flood’s Lizzie is a character based on Ms. Wohl’s mother, who 50 years earlier started a consciousness-raising group for women in Ohio.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 21, 2025
It’s like a twisted blend of “The Voice,” “The Crown,” “The Handmaid’s Tale” — and a women’s consciousness-raising group.
From Seattle Times • Jul. 13, 2023
Sexism and sexual harassment should not be ignored or treated as a perk of stardom, nor should it be papered over with consciousness-raising and workplace training.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 25, 2023
Ms. Noomin and Kominsky — who would marry cartoonist Robert Crumb, creator of Fritz the Cat and Mr. Natural — were annoyed by the relentless consciousness-raising at collective meetings.
From Washington Post • Sep. 17, 2022
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
