Havening Techniques

A science-informed approach to calming the nervous system, releasing emotional patterns, and building resilience

Havening Techniques® are a gentle, evidence-based therapy designed to support emotional healing and regulation. Originally developed to help people process trauma, they’ve since become a powerful tool for addressing anxiety, stress, and unhelpful emotional patterns. They’re equally valuable for reinforcing calm, focus, and emotional strength.

Developed by Dr. Ronald Ruden — a medical doctor with a strong interest in neuroscience and trauma , together with his brother Dr. Steven Ruden, Havening was born out of over a decade of research. The method took shape after Dr. Ruden witnessed a colleague receive a different form of psychosensory therapy for a phobia, with unexpectedly powerful results. Driven by curiosity and scientific rigour, the Rudens explored how traumatic memories are encoded in the brain, and how those emotional responses could be safely and permanently transformed.

Their research laid the foundations for methods now used internationally by therapists, doctors, and coaches alike.

This is not a one-size-fits-all technique. There are different forms of Havening, each adapted to what we’re working with. Whether we’re aiming to unhook a past emotional response, reduce daily stress, or reinforce a new way of thinking or feeling, the method is tailored to support that outcome.

What Are Havening Techniques?

Havening is a type of Psychosensory Therapy, which simply means it uses sensory input, like gentle touch, to create a neurological response.

Touch is typically applied to the arms, hands, or face. It can be done by the practitioner, yourself or people close to you. This therapeutic touch This therapeutic touch sets off what can be most easily described as a natural but increased electro-chemical chain reaction throughout your body. In response, the brain produces a wave of calming neurochemistry (including serotonin and GABA), and shifts into a deeply restful, delta-wave state. This is similar to what we experience during restorative sleep. This has a calming effect throughout yout brain and nervous system, and gives you a sense of safety.

In this altered receptive state, the brain becomes more open to rewiring unhelpful responses through delinking the emotional content of traumatic memories with the rest of the experience. Havening creates the conditions for emotional change by working with the brain and body, not against them.

You may still remember the event or belief, but it no longer carries the same emotional charge. The panic, fear, or shame that once felt automatic can fade, or in some cases, disappear completely.

The Science Behind It

When an event is experienced as traumatic or overwhelming, the brain stores that memory in a heightened, emotionally “charged” way , usually in the amygdala, the part of the brain responsible for detecting threat.

Even after the event has passed, reminders that feel even vaguely similar can trigger the same intense emotional response, regardless of whether it’s logical or wanted. It’s not your fault. It’s your brain trying to protect you.

Havening helps by removing the “potentiated” receptors that keep that memory wired to an overactive emotional response. This process is called depotentiation. After Havening, the memory may still be there, but the emotional intensity is not. It becomes a memory like any other, one that no longer disrupts the present.

You can view the full list of published Havening research studies here.

It’s Not Just for Trauma

Although it’s widely used for trauma, PTSD, and anxiety, Havening is also a powerful tool for building emotional strength, supporting mental clarity, and creating new internal pathways.

This is especially important in the way I use it with clients — and within my online course, the Havening Mastery Series — to work on:

   Releasing the body from chronic stress

   Rewiring harsh inner narratives or self-talk

   Strengthening self-belief and emotional stability

   Reducing performance anxiety or fear of failure

   Supporting focus, follow-through, and motivation

   Building resilience, calm, and nervous system capacity

   Practising visualisation and goal orientation

   Developing a sense of safety, both physically and emotionally

Whether we’re unhooking from a past pattern or anchoring into a more resourceful one, Havening meets your nervous system where it is and helps it move forward.

Why This Matters

You don’t have to relive your pain to heal from it.
You don’t need to “think differently” to feel differently. Sometimes your brain needs the right input, not more analysing.

Havening offers a direct, science-informed way to shift emotional responses and support the brain in doing what it wants to do — feel safer, more regulated, and more free to engage with life.

It’s gentle. It’s non-invasive. And it gives you tools you can take with you, both in session and beyond.

Ready to explore more?

Tam uses Advanced Havening Techniques in conjunction with NLP, Hypnotherapy and other therapeutic and coaching approaches. This unique combination ensures you get the optimum results in the shortest time.

If you’re wondering whether this could help with something you’ve been carrying — or if you’re curious about using it to build more calm, clarity, or resilience — here are a few places to start:

Book or enquire about 1:1 Havening sessions

Find out more about Havening therapy with Tam

Read frequently asked questions about Havening

Explore the Havening Mastery Series

Watch the video: What is Havening and how does it work?

You don’t need to know for certain it’ll work for you.
Just a willingness to try something that works with your nervous system, not against it.

*Guidance on practitioners ~ note of caution and care. Not everyone who claims to use Havening is certified. There are a limited number of Certified Havening Practitioners currently in London. Certification is a complex process ensuring Practitioners are thoroughly trained, assessed and deemed safe and competent with the accompanying knowledge base, so they are equipped to manage the complexities of trauma and to keep safe. Please ensure whoever you choose is a certified practitioner. You can check here.

Enquire about working with Tam