Havening Techniques, also known as Delta Wave Techniques, are a psychosensory approach that uses touch to help alleviate emotional and physical distress. The method is grounded in neuroscience and aims to permanently eliminate unwanted feelings associated with distressing memories and events, while also promoting personal and professional development. The benefits of havening techniques include a wide range of applications, from trauma resolution to stress management.
Key benefits of havening techniques:
- Trauma Resolution: Havening can help to heal amygdala-based disorders, including panic attacks, phobias, and PTSD. It allows for the depotentiation of traumatically encoded experiences in the amygdala, meaning that it targets the neurons holding the traumatic experience active in the brain, enabling the brain to release these experiences. One key advantage of Havening is that clients do not need to be retraumatised during the healing process.
- Stress Reduction: Havening is an effective tool for reducing stress and building resilience. It can help to relieve present-moment emotional discomfort and reduce the stress stored in the body. The technique helps individuals to manage the abreaction and disorganisation that can be triggered by stress, and by reducing negative stress, people can improve overall wellbeing.
- Emotional Regulation: Havening techniques can help individuals gain control over their emotions and actions. By addressing feelings of shame, embarrassment, and humiliation, people can achieve a more balanced mind state. It can also help individuals to recontextualise and accept their private events.
- Pain Management: Havening can reduce and eliminate the emotional roots of chronic pain, and it is also helpful in dealing with physical conditions that have a stress or trauma origin.
- Improved Sleep: Havening can change the quality of sleep, which in turn has a positive impact on belief systems and how people wake up the next morning.
- Enhanced Performance: Havening can help to increase access to positive emotions, energise desired outcomes, and improve confidence. This can be used in various contexts, from personal development to business.
- Flexibility: Havening can be used as an adjunctive therapy and combined with other modalities, making it a versatile tool. It can be applied in different contexts depending on the scope of practice.
- Self-Care: Havening can be learned and used effectively by lay people for self-care and self-development. Self-havening can be used to reduce stress, manage emotions, and create a safe haven. Families can use the techniques as a way of communicating and being part of the solution.
- Content Free: Havening can be used without having to disclose the details of a traumatic event, which can make it more accessible to people who find it hard to talk about their experiences.
- Accessibility and Speed: Havening is a simple technique that is easy to learn and can be self-applied, making it a cost-effective way to manage emotional distress. It can produce results quickly and gently.
There are multiple types of Havening including: Event Havening, Transpirational Havening, Affirmational Havening, Outcome Havening, Hopeful Havening, and Role Havening. Each technique has unique benefits:
- Event Havening deals with specific traumatic events and their components.
- Transpirational Havening depletes emotional content from memories.
- Affirmational Havening moves individuals towards accepting change.
- Outcome Havening alters the outcome of a recalled event.
- Hopeful Havening is often used at the end of a session to inspire hope.
- Role Havening allows the practitioner to take the role of an individual in the traumatic event.
In summary, the benefits of havening techniques are wide ranging, including trauma resolution, stress reduction, emotional regulation, pain management and improved sleep. It is a versatile technique that can be used by both professionals and laypeople for self-care and personal development, and is generally considered to be a safe, rapid, and effective method for enhancing well-being. Havening is being used by a range of health professionals as an adjunct to their practice and can also be taught to clients for self-havening.