Havening is a psychosensory therapy that uses touch, attention, and positive visualisation to ease emotional pain and promote healing. It is based on the idea that touch, focused attention, and positive visualization can trigger changes in the brain, specifically in the amygdala, which processes emotional memories.
How Havening Works: The Science
- The Amygdala: Havening is designed to target the neurons that hold traumatic experiences active in the brain, specifically in the amygdala.
- Touch: Light pressure applied to certain areas of the body stimulates the release of delta waves in the brain, which are associated with relaxation and sleep. Touch also promotes the release of oxytocin, a hormone linked to social bonding, trust, and relaxation.
- Attention and Visualisation: Focused attention and positive visualization can help to reorganise the brain and promote emotional recovery. By focusing on positive affirmations and visualizing happy outcomes, new neural pathways in the brain that support emotional well-being can be created.
- Neuroplasticity: Havening works by interrupting negative neural pathways and forming new, positive ones. This is due to the brain’s ability to restructure and create new neural connections in response to experiences, called neuroplasticity.
- Electrochemical Changes: Havening uses touch, attention and imagination to trigger electrochemical changes in the brain that alter how memories are processed.
Benefits of Havening Techniques
Havening can offer a wide range of mental and physical health advantages:
- Rapid Relief from Stress and Anxiety: Havening can help lower the intensity of negative feelings and increase relaxation, making it a useful tool for managing stress and anxiety. It can assist in releasing the body from a fight or flight state and promote relaxation and calm.
- Trauma Relief: Havening can aid in the release of emotional memories and the healing of past traumas and unpleasant events. It can help to minimize the emotional and physical distress linked to traumatic memories, and promote a sense of safety and well-being for trauma survivors.
- Improved Physical Health: Havening may help strengthen the immune system, reduce inflammation, and ease pain in the body.
- Enhanced Relationships: Havening can aid in developing communication skills, empathy, and emotional intelligence, leading to stronger relationships. It can also improve emotional intelligence, enabling better navigation of complex emotions in relationships.
- Increased Self-Awareness and Creativity: Havening can help to clear the mind, reduce stress, and enhance creativity and productivity. It can increase self-awareness by helping people understand and accept their emotions, thoughts, and beliefs.
How to Use Havening
- The Havening Touch: This involves applying light, repetitive touch to areas such as the forehead, temples, upper arms or palms, and this can be self-applied or applied by a practitioner. This touch is used to activate delta waves, which are associated with deep relaxation. There are several different kinds of touch, such as: washing hands, hugging, and washing face.
- Focus on a Memory or Feeling: Think of a difficult or traumatic event that you want to work on.
- Positive Affirmations or Visualisation: Use a positive affirmation or visualisation while applying touch, like “I am safe and protected,” or “I am capable and strong”.
- Repetition: Continue the touch and positive affirmation for a few minutes.
- Deep breaths: After finishing the technique, take a few deep breaths and notice how you feel.
- Distraction: Simple distracting tasks, such as counting out loud and humming, can help to further disrupt negative thoughts.
Havening techniques can be adapted to individual needs, and it may be necessary to experiment with different affirmations, visualisation techniques or touch places. For the best results, a consistent daily practice is recommended.
Havening in Practice: What to Expect
- Rapid Results: Havening can produce fast results, with some people experiencing relief in a single session.
- Content-Free Work: Havening can be done without needing to talk about the content of the trauma, which can be helpful for those who don’t want to disclose what happened to them.
- Integration with Other Therapies: Havening can be used with other therapeutic approaches, which makes it a versatile tool.
- Self-Care: Havening is easy to learn and can be self-applied, making it a useful tool for self-care and managing stress.
- Safe and Gentle: Havening is a gentle process that doesn’t re-traumatize the client. It empowers the brain to release experiences that are serving as a trauma filter.
Havening for Specific Issues
- Trauma: Havening can help with a range of traumas including PTSD, phobias, and the effects of physical and sexual abuse. It can help to de-traumatize memories and release their negative effects.
- Anxiety and Stress: Havening can reduce the mental and physical distress associated with stress and anxiety, such as worry, fear and physical tension, whilst also promoting relaxation.
- Relationships: Havening can improve communication, empathy and emotional intelligence, leading to improved relationships.
- Pain Management: Havening can be used to help people deal with physical pain and conditions where there’s been a stress or trauma origin.
- Obsessive Compulsive Disorders: Havening is being explored as a potential treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorders.
The Future of Havening
Havening is a developing therapy, and more research is being done to further understand its efficacy. There is a hope that it will be more widely adopted, including in mainstream healthcare settings, due to its effectiveness and ease of use. It is suggested it could become a standard way of practicing, with talking therapies as an adjunct.
In summary, Havening is a powerful self-healing tool that combines touch, attention, and imagination to alter brain activity, reduce negative emotions, and promote overall well-being. It is a versatile technique that can be used for a variety of issues and can be self-applied or facilitated by a practitioner.