Havening Techniques: Hit a reset button on your traumatic memories
What are Havening Techniques?
Havening Techniques help your brain process and calm traumatic memories.
Think of it as a reset button for your emotional system. By using soothing, controlled touch, Havening Techniques help you reduce the intensity of distressing memories without forcing you to relive them.
This method can help you feel calmer and safer by intensifying the release of feel-good hormones like oxytocin. Havening Techniques help you stimulate specific brain waves, and they interact with receptors involved in storing trauma, making it easier to process difficult experiences without overwhelming you.
When is IFS helpful?
Havening Techniques come in handy, especially when you’re experiencing intense emotional reactions linked to distressing memories.
Trauma & PTSD: Havening Techniques help you reduce the significance of past traumatic events, making them feel less overwhelming.
Anxiety & excessive stress: A large part of Havening Techniques is known as "Havening Touch”. It can lower anxiety levels and help you deal with chronic stress.
Overwhelm: Havening is helpful also because it creates a soothing space for relief, which is especially vital when there’s just too much going on in your life.
Panic attacks: If your panic attacks are related to a difficult past, Havening Techniques will help you curb sudden surges of fear or panic.
What can you expect from Havening Techniques?
Havening Techniques stimulate your delta brain waves and interact directly with receptors in the brain responsible for housing traumatic imprints. By doing so, it has the capacity to reduce the emotional intensity, often while you’re distracted, sparing you from the necessity of dwelling on or discussing distressing events or emotions.
Havening Techniques are frequently used alongside other therapeutic approaches, so it’s a good idea to try it even if you’ve work with different modalities in the past. In a way, we’re “adding another layer” of mental health support with Havening Techniques, which can help you achieve results faster.
What does a Havening Techniques session look like?
Havening is similar to other therapies that help with trauma, such as EMDR. We’ll start with a conversation that will help you identify a specific memory or emotion you'd like to address. I will then guide you through a series of gentle, rhythmic touches (on your arms, hands, or face) that will help your brain relax and begin to reprocess the emotional charge of the memory.
Gradually, you will notice a shift in how that memory feels and how you react to it. Over time, its intensity will decline until it’s no longer causing you distress.
Are you ready to start Havening Techniques in New York?
If you're looking for an experienced and compassionate Havening Techniques therapist, I'm here to help! Let's start with a free initial consultation, during which I will tell you a bit more about my approach and experience. Havening Techniques are usually a part of the larger counseling process, and I'm happy to help you understand when it's beneficial to use them.
