What Is Havening?
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PLEASE READ:
Havening Techniques® are a new method of psychosensory healing that utilizes touch and guided mental activities. (psycho: mind, brain & -sensory-involving the senses) A relatively new healing modality, havening is still considered experimental and complementary to licensed medical fields; all practitioners must be certified after thorough training, supervision and work in the field. Always work with a certified practitioner. Clients should never stop current medications, medical treatments, or psychotherapy without discussing with their licensed healthcare providers. While no therapy can offer promises or guarantees, havening has provided astonishing results for people around the world, sometimes in just a single session. Results can vary according to the particular condition(s) being addressed as well as the particular client. The actual experiences of real clients I share (with permission) on this website do not constitute a promise of similar results for any other potential client. I am a certified Havening Techniques provider, and I am neither a licensed medical or psychotherapy provider. Thus insurance does not cover havening sessions. Information on this page is offered for educational purposes only and should not be interpreted as medical or psychological advice. By continuing to read about Havening Techniques on this webpage, you agree that you understand the above stated and implied limitations of the material posted. 
For more information about Havening Techniques as well as short videos and demonstrations: www.Havening.org.
Many great videos can also be found on YouTube and other social media sites! |
Havening Techniques are a new psychosensory modality that works deeply within your brain without drugs or machines.
The word "havening" was coined from the noun "haven," as in a safe place, an apt metaphor for the state it generates in your brain. From this place of feeling calm, safe, and relaxed, you can create the changes you seek. In 2001, a physician in New York, Dr. Ronald M. Ruden, became curious about trauma, the brain, and methods being used for healing at that time, especially those using sensory experiences. He then spent many years investigating the neurological research. From this simple curiosity, he went on to develop a set of therapeutic mind-body healing techniques based in the innate and natural processes of the human brain. These came to be called the Havening Techniques. While using havening with amazing success on thousands of patients with a variety of trauma and other emotion-related distresses, he and his brother Dr. Steve Ruden realized they couldn't keep this to themselves, and they began training others to use this powerful healing modality in 2013. Today, hundreds of Certified Havening Techniques Practitioners around the world use havening successfully to help their clients achieve their goals. Originally HT was developed to swiftly relieve the distressing effects and negative impacts of a traumatic or stressful past event. Such symptoms range from stress, anxiety, fear, hypervigilance, to phobias, unwanted body sensations or pain, emotional, cognitive and behavioral patterns that are not serving the person and instead keep them from feeling and acting their best. The range of applications for Havening has widened band continues to do so and include building positive neural pathways in the brain as well as removing encoded traumas there. 🔸PTSD reduce or eliminate emotional distress from traumatic experiences such as natural disasters, attacks, war, physical or emotional abuse, loss 🔸Fears, phobias, hypervigilance 🔸Addictions, Tinnitus, Autoimmune disease 🔸Performance enhancement at work, school, sports, public speaking 🔸Chronic pain that is unresponsive to medical treatment 🔸Anger issues 🔸Loss, mourning, gaining closure 🔸Gaining new perspectives & insights 🔸Negative/critical self-view, low self-esteem, etc. 🔸Building self-esteem, self-confidence & a sense of agency 🔸Cultivating self-love 🔸Building resilience for weathering future difficulties and challenges |
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Testimonials from some of my clients:
I love working with Elisa. She is very supportive, full of compassion, empathy, a good, attentive listener, and a wonderful person. We worked on my fears of elevators and highway driving, with havening always the foundation. Although English is not my first language, I felt we connected deeply. We uncovered the deep origins of my phobias over a total of 3 sessions. Elisa even facilitated a session related to my deceased father, which played a big part in solving these fears. Since then, I continue to use havening on my own to calm my mind whenever needed. I have used elevators successfully, and even driven in big cities! I feel Elisa’s supportive energy and imagination as I recall our sessions and continue using the method in many ways on my own. ~ M, Germany I had a powerful experience with Elisa! We were part of the same Havening Techniques training course, and one time Elisa offered to do a session with me. All I can say is, “Wow!” She was extremely warm, yet very professional. I knew from the start that I was in capable hands. We addressed a work-related concern: I run multi-day trainings and one was coming up. The havening process was soothing, comforting, and had a real impact. I clearly saw and felt the benefit the very first day I began facilitating my program, I felt clear, calm and centered—exactly the feelings I havened to experience as we wrapped up our session. I’m so grateful to Elisa for helping me be my best self so I can continue to help others. ~ G, USA Elisa is a very warm, supportive professional and made me feel at ease from the start—with no fear of being judged. I was completing my PhD when I had a bit of “imposter syndrome.” We did Outcome Havening about submitting my dissertation. I gained a fresh perspective on the value of my work and increased my sense of accomplishment and self-esteem. I also had fresh insights for my dissertation, which my professor was excited about. I felt relaxed and confident defending it in front of my professors and an audience. Since havening, I’ve experienced “flow,” feel personally empowered, open to new opportunities, and confident I will thrive going forward. ~ A., Mexico We focused on my fears about speaking up in meetings. Elisa was very warm and sincere, and I felt in safe hands. I loved the visual distractions she used! She helped me delve deeper into the issue, uncovering my 'people pleasing' tendency, which was spot on! Afterwards, I felt very calm and focused, and we had a helpful final discussion. Elisa is a fantastic havening practitioner; I highly recommend her. ~ J, Scotland Elisa used vivid imagery and other techniques to address a childhood trauma. I was impressed at how fast we could dive into powerful emotions and then quickly shift them. I felt validated, understood, and much better after. I recommend Havening Techniques®, and Elisa in particular. Working with her was a beautiful, helpful experience. ~R, USA 
I worked with Elisa before, so I felt she was the right person to help me with a traumatic memory I'd wanted to address for a long time. She is a good listener, very understanding, and she had made me feel comfortable--safe--and cared for in my first session. So I asked her to help me with a trauma memory. She used several havening techniques with me. I felt supported throughout the session. I used to get stressed and feel awful if something reminded me of that event. But since havening, I am no longer triggered by it! Instead, it is like I am just an observer—I am not emotionally affected. Havening allowed me to transform the event's story into my own narrative of feeling safe and confident. I am forever grateful!
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✋🏻 What exactly is Havening?🤚🏻
Havening involves applying a gentle, therapeutic touch on the face, shoulders and palms, which in turn generates slow brain waves. The process releases oxytocin, GABA and serotonin, which both feel pleasant and create the perfect condition for neuron-level changes, facilitating the removal of encoded trauma memories as well as generating more helpful pathways for future growth and resilience. One of the unique aspects of this method is that you can address distress tied to a traumatic event without sharing the details of the event with your practitioner. Have you ever been so upset by something that you can't stop thinking or talking about it, but neither makes the bad feelings go away? Neural pathways in your brain are strengthened by using them repeatedly, so revisiting a traumatic event in your mind over and over may actually strengthen those unwanted pathways that cause suffering, perpetuating your distress. With havening, we aim to help those pathways weaken while you build newer ones that generate more useful responses instead. Havening can melt away triggers from a targeted traumatic event, essentially ending their negative influence on your life and opening the door for real healing and a fresh beginning. What happens in a havening session? There are 3 styles of havening: guided havening, self-havening and guided self-havening. My practice uses guided self-havening and I conducted sessions primarily online. Thus you can have a private treatment from the comfort of your own home, or wherever you can find a quiet, private place to log in. Self-havening means you apply the touch on yourself. Self-havening is an important part of taking control of your own healing, empowering you in your healing process, and is strongly encouraged between your guided sessions for further building up your desired neural pathways, for addressing any uncomfortable emotions that arise, and/or for setting your intentions for how you want to feel. In addition, we may talk about activities you enjoy, that make you feel positive emotions, or calm, or engage your interest. We may do some word or number games, brain games like categorizing or naming things. These are only for keeping the ever-busy mind engaged while the touch works on your brain. There may be laughter, singing, visualizing; playfulness and fun are encouraged. my goal is always to create a welcoming, compassionate, nonjudging and supportive space where you can feel safe. Depending on what you want to focus on in a session, I may employ any number of various protocols to guide your process, all while the touch is applied. Our relationship in the process will be on equal ground, by the way. I encourage ongoing communication and feedback, so that I can respond or shift direction to best serve you in the moment and in your desired outcome. I am there to guide you in the techniques, to be a supportive presence and witness to what you yourself accomplish. If you wish to heal a specific trauma, it is not necessary to share details about this with me, or even talk about it at all! You may have done that in therapy, for years, but havening isn't therapy. However, just before the havening touch begins, I may ask you to recall the emotions, body sensation, other sensory input, and so on, of a past event, which you can do silently. This can be unpleasant, but it is so brief, a minute or two, compared with how long you might spend telling the story! And we would then quickly shift into the pleasant, calming havening. My role is to support you as havening begins to work, and witness when it opens your mind to new perspectives and realizations. I will also offer suggestions based in my experience and training about how to choose what to work on.For instance, starting out with some resilience-building is best if your daily distress levels have been high for a long time, such as with CPTSD. Even this gentle approach can lead to deeper insights about current or past struggles. We don't always even know what emotions we are feeling until we dig under the surface ones! Your very first session can run a bit longer than normal, as we get to know each other, and you ask any questions. Follow-up sessions can include more of the havening process, after this initial stage. A regular session after this should end in less an hour, and eventually may be as brief as 30 minutes. I reserve the last 5 minutes or so to check in on what you notice now, if anything appears differently. Often you can have new insights already, but it is common for these to come up more slowly over the next few days or weeks. Between appointments, I encourage clients to try some self-havening at home. This allows you to continue building and strengthening the desirable neural pathways, reinforcing and building your healing that begin during the session. Follow-up sessions can be scheduled 1 or more weeks apart. Early research indicates effects of a single session can even last months. My goal is not to keep you coming back every week for years, but to facilitate your healing and empower you to continue it, using self-havening on your own as a regular self-care tool. Every client is unique, and so is their havening journey. In the calm, safe state created by the touch, your brain may bring up some surprising yet related concerns, insights, events or emotions, so it can be a winding road of a process. It will be real healing progress! And while yes, it's true--an issue can be completely addressed in one or two sessions, there's no promise or guarantee that this will be your experience. There are many factors at play, including the kind of issue or goal we work on, as well as the client herself or himself. Havening works best when you have a specific focus for a session. But it's not uncommon that other stuff pops up, which then may need to be addressed at a followup session(s). Getting results, even if it takes two sessions, is amazing, when you compare this with other methods, or think about how long the issue has bothered you! That's why I find this work so exciting and rewarding. However, some conditions, such as complex trauma (CPTSD)--multiple and/or longterm traumatic experiences, or very recent trauma or losses. Some of these can require more time to clear away. If I believe your condition is not within my skill set, or that I cannot be of help, I will tell you, suggest what direction to try instead, and if I can, refer you to a better source of help. Again, keep in mind that I am not licensed as a therapist or medical provider; I do not provide talk therapy, nor should you expect to heal conditions with a clear medical cause that require medical care. However, I am willing to work with you to lessen your distress if you are going through medical treatments, and to explain havening to your medical or psychotherapy providers if you wish, and coordinate with them. |