Havening
haven
/ˈheɪvən/ noun
A harbour or port. A place of safety or refuge.
verb
To provide shelter or refuge for.
Havening Techniques®
Havening is a gentle, hands-on approach that helps the nervous system feel safe enough to let go of what it’s been holding.
It involves lightly stroking the arms, hands, or face in a slow, rhythmic way. This simple touch helps the brain shift into a calm delta state — similar to the brainwaves of deep sleep — while you remain awake and aware.
In that state, the emotional charge around certain memories, triggers, or patterns can begin to soften.
You don’t have to relive or retell everything. We work at the pace your system is ready for.
What can Havening help with?
Havening can support:
Anxiety and panic
Trauma responses
Phobias and specific fears
Emotional triggers and reactivity
Stress and overwhelm
Grief
Building confidence and resilience
Reducing anticipatory anxiety about future events
It can be used to gently clear old emotional charge, or proactively to build positive inner states.
The Havening Toolkit
There are several ways we can direct a session, depending on what feels most supportive for you:
Event Havening
Softens the emotional charge around a specific memory or trigger.
Transpirational Havening
Builds and strengthens positive emotional states like calm, confidence, or joy.
Affirmational Havening
Reinforces supportive beliefs while the brain is in a receptive state.
Outcome Havening
Helps calm anxiety about future situations by rehearsing them in a regulated way.
Role Havening
Supports identity shifts — stepping into a version of yourself that already carries the qualities you want to embody.
We choose together what feels right.
How I Work
My Havening practice is deeply influenced by mentorship with Jenna Nye at Jentle, where the emphasis is on careful sequencing and attunement — not just applying techniques, but responding to the individual in front of me.
I also weave in somatic awareness work, building connection with bodily sensations and developing a two-way dialogue with them.
This links closely with the “felt sense” I speak about in breathwork. When we gently listen to sensations rather than override them, parts of us that have been waiting to be seen can finally be met.
That meeting often brings not just healing — but self-trust and self-compassion.
The somatic work can be woven into any Havening session.
What Happens in a Session?
In Event Havening (the core application), I may invite you to briefly bring awareness to a memory or sensation — just enough to notice it in the body. You don’t need to describe it in detail unless you want to.
While that awareness is present, we apply Havening touch.
As the brain shifts into a delta state, the neural pathways holding the emotional charge can begin to weaken. Some people describe this as “loosening the glue” that keeps a memory feeling raw or activated.
The memory may remain as information — but the intensity changes.
This isn’t about suppressing emotion. It’s about updating the nervous system so it no longer reacts as if the past is still happening now.
Rooted in Safety
Havening Techniques® were developed by Dr. Ronald Ruden and Steven Ruden as a psycho-sensory methods designed to reduce the emotional charge attached to distressing memories. The name comes from the word haven — to place something into safety. That’s the heart of the work.
We move gently. We track your nervous system. We go at the pace of nature.
Session are 60 minutes, in person at Windsor UK
I am still attaining my Havening certification, if you would like a Session based on a donation payment. We can help one another on this journey.