Understanding Havening
The Science of Havening
Understanding the neuroscience behind Havening Techniques®
Havening Techniques® is a neuroscience-informed psychosensory approach that combines gentle touch with focused attention and distraction to help change the way stressful or emotionally charged experiences are encoded and responded to.
This page offers a simple introduction to what may be happening in the brain and nervous system during Havening, and why the process can create meaningful shifts in how an experience feels.
Emotion and memory
How Havening Works
When an emotionally charged experience becomes encoded, reminders of that experience can sometimes trigger an emotional or physiological response long after the original event has passed.
Havening brings together gentle touch, focused attention, and distraction with the aim of changing the way the brain responds to that encoded experience. The memory itself can remain, while the emotional intensity associated with it may lessen.
The proposed mechanism
The developers of Havening describe this process as synaptic depotentiation. The proposed neuroscience behind it includes changes in the neural pathways involved in emotional learning and memory. Research into Havening and its underlying mechanisms is continuing.
Explore further
Research and Publications
Havening Techniques® is a newer psychosensory approach, and the body of research continues to grow.
If you’d like to review the published papers and references, Havening Headquarters maintains an official research and publications list.
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