Havening is a psychosensory method that uses touch to address difficult feelings and memories. It involves using touch, attention, and positive visualizations to promote healing from stress, anxiety, and trauma. It works by triggering the body’s own natural healing systems, helping to release it from a “fight or flight” response.
The main components of a Havening treatment include:
- Touch: Applying gentle pressure to areas like the forehead, temples, upper arms, or palms. The touch is intended to be soothing and comforting, much like the touch between a mother and newborn.
- Attention: Focusing on a difficult memory or emotion while applying the touch.
- Positive Visualization/ Affirmations: Repeating positive statements or imagining positive scenarios to shift focus from the negative memory.
- Distraction: Using a distraction, such as counting, humming or other activities to displace the upsetting memory in the working memory.
Havening techniques can be adapted to suit individual needs and preferences, such as varying the affirmations, visualizations, or the specific touch locations used.
Conditions Havening Addresses:
Havening can be used for a wide variety of mental and physical health issues, including:
- Stress and Anxiety: Havening can reduce the intensity of negative emotions and promote relaxation. It is used for conditions such as generalised anxiety, panic and post-traumatic stress.
- Trauma: Havening assists in releasing emotional memories and healing past traumas and distressing events. This includes physical, emotional, or sexual abuse, neglect, accidents, and natural disasters.
- Physical Health: Havening is used to strengthen the immune system and reduce pain in the body.
- Relationship Issues: Havening can improve communication, empathy, and emotional intelligence to enhance relationships.
- Enhancing Well-being: Havening is also a tool for promoting self-awareness, creativity, and overall well-being.
- Amygdala-based disorders: Conditions such as panic attacks and phobias can be addressed by releasing the trauma from the brain.
- Addictions: The craving for substances is understood to be a way of self-soothing the trauma and Havening is used to address the underlying trauma.
Self-Havening vs. Practitioner-Guided Havening
Havening can be performed in two primary ways:
- Self-Havening: Individuals perform Havening techniques on themselves. This involves self-administering the touch, focusing on a memory or emotion, and using positive affirmations or visualizations.
- Practitioner-Guided Havening: A trained Havening practitioner leads the individual through the process. The practitioner can guide the client through the Havening touch and the process of focusing attention and positive visualisation.
When to Choose Self-Havening vs. Visiting a Practitioner
- Self-Havening:
- It is useful for everyday stress, anxiety, or mild emotional distress.
- It is a good option for managing physical sensations, such as pain.
- It can be incorporated into a daily routine for general well-being.
- It can be used for self-regulation of emotions.
- Self-Havening may be more challenging because there is no one to talk to, to understand the feelings.
- Visiting a Practitioner:
- When dealing with significant or complex trauma.
- When experiencing intense emotions, such as panic attacks, phobias, or post-traumatic stress.
- When experiencing a chronic emotional state, like fear, anger, or shame.
- When a deeper and more supported healing process is needed.
- If you cannot get your stress to zero through self-Havening, a practitioner can guide you through the process.
- A practitioner can also help you to identify and work with underlying causes of your issues.
- When you want to work with a safe person who is trained to facilitate your healing.
Havening uses touch, focus, and visualization to promote healing from stress, anxiety and trauma. It can be used in a range of circumstances and is flexible to suit the specific needs of individuals. It is based on neuroscientific principles which demonstrate that this approach can create real and lasting change in the mind and body. Self-Havening can be used for day-to-day stresses and emotional regulation, while a practitioner can provide guidance for those dealing with deeper trauma or those who would benefit from more support in the process of healing. Havening is a powerful tool that can be integrated into an existing life to enhance both mental and physical well-being.
If the issues raised in this material are relevant to you and you feel you would benefit from more help, please reach out for support.