Artsoup, January 2025 Havening

We have moved away from facilitating art therapy group workshops.  

In 2023  a good friend of mine introduced me to Havening, or finding a safe haven. This process has been life changing for myself and many others I have worked with. Here’s the story…

My friend who was a midwife studying for her PHD, was interested in helping women who had a fear of natural childbirth. This many times resulted in an elective caesarean, which often had adverse long term effects for the mother and child. She found Havening, a gentle approach, based on the latest in neuroscience. 

Havening touch, applied to specific areas, stimulates a neurochemical pathway that helps the brain rewire itself. Clients retain the memory of a past event but no longer have the emotion or trigger attached to that memory. With this treatment women went on to have natural deliveries. She was so excited by this new process that she became a practitioner herself and offered me some sessions. 

I found them to be life changing and have since become a Havening Techniques® practitioner myself. After a session, you still maintain the memory but no longer have the emotional trigger.  You will no longer be constantly in hypervigilance. 

From the https://neuroscienceofhealing.com website

What Types of Problems Can Havening be Used for?

The consequences of traumatic encoding can be physical and psychological. Havening has been shown to help with:

-Anxiety

-Phobias

-Distressing memories (broken relationships, shocking news, loss, embarrassment, etc.)

Diagnosis

-Victims of natural disasters (hurricanes, floods, etc.) and man-made (war, fire, assault, home intrusion, etc.)

-Anger

-Fear of abandonment

-Stress

-Self Esteem 

-PTSD

-Panic attacks

-Sexual abuse

-Public speaking

With children I have been linking this powerful process up with my Art Therapy. As I know from personal experience, ‘Sometimes words are simply not enough.’

Havening is a content free therapy, meaning you do not need to explain the traumatic event. For children they can simply draw it. In some cases children have elected a parent to do the Havening touch, while I have facilitated the process. The sessions are always light hearted and fun, with a lot of laughter.

Check out www.having.org for more information