I am so pleased that Havening is becoming more recognised as a tool for anyone with mental health difficulties such as anxiety, stress, phobias etc. It is easy to learn, simple to use anywhere and it really works. I am grateful to all celebrities such as Hailey Bieber who have openly discussed mental wellbeing and Havening. Many more of us than ever have experienced stress and anxiety recently due to the Covid pandemic. Knowing that celebrities such as Justin Bieber and Prince Harry are finding these techniques helpful will in turn encourage others to try them and also reap the benefits.
What are the Havening Techniques?
Havening is a healing therapy designed to help overcome problems that are the consequence of traumatic encoding. Havening belongs to a larger group of methods called psychosensory therapies, all of which use sensory input to alter thoughts, mood and behaviour. Havening Techniques use touch as a therapeutic tool, which the creators called Havening Touch®. This touch can be self-applied so there is no need for the therapist to touch the client and very often sessions take place online so the client can be in the safety of their own home. The term Havening was decided upon as the therapist helps you to create a safe space, or haven, enabling the natural and healing changes to the biological structure of the brain.
How do the Havening Techniques work?
The consequences of trauma and stressful life events are stored in the brain and the body and can be activated by conscious or subconcious recall. Once this recall occurs, symptoms are generated that can be upsetting and affect our lives in a negative way. Havening uses the fact that this activation also makes the pathway that generates these feelings subject to disruption. The Havening Techniques were designed to disrupt this pathway through a process called synaptic depotentiation. Although we can’t provide any guarantees, the emotions and sometimes even the ability to recall the memory fully can be extinguished after performing The Havening Techniques. Clients often report that it is like a film they know they once watched but can't quite remember.
What types of problems does Havening help with?
While we can't provide any guarantees, Havening Techniques have been shown to help with phobias, pain, distressing memories, anger, fear, grief, cravings, PTSD, panic attacks, emotional eating, and many other problems. Self-Havening techniques can also be taught and thereafter used as a self-help technique and shared with family members and friends.
Isn't Havening just a distraction method?
No, but distraction is used during a therapy session as it plays a role in The Havening Techniques. Each distraction component has a biological correlate and a valuable purpose in the session as it plays a part in the disencoding of the anxiety or stress response. Havening therapists often work with clients who do not believe it will work and are all the more astonished when it does. The occasional return of symptoms implies either the traumatic core has not yet been found or the problem has been encoded in a different way. In particular, addictions, obsessive/compulsive behaviors and certain pain syndromes often need further sessions or cannot be treated at the present time. No healing method or therapy works for all problems.
Is Havening a type of hypnosis?
No. The Havening Techniques do not involve the use of any hypnotic trance. The client is always aware of their feelings, thoughts, and surroundings and participates fully in the process.
How is Havening different to TFT, EFT, and EMDR?
Havening, TFT, EFT and EMDR are all psychosensory therapies. Havening Techniques produce a faster and longer lasting response and cause less distress than TFT, EFT, and EMDR. This seems to be due to the comprehensive understanding of the underlying neurobiology that was at the root of the creation of Havening by Dr Ronald Ronald. In addition, the Havening Techniques have a number of different modalities applicable in different situations. Havening Techniques have been designed as a powerful, biologically based healing method.
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