Havening Therapy – Gentle Psychosensory Healing for Trauma and Anxiety
Discover the Benefits of Havening Psychosensory Therapy at BodyMindSpirit Psychological Services, Calgary
If you are struggling with emotional distress, anxiety, or trauma, Havening Therapy in Calgary offers a gentle, evidence-based approach to healing. Also known as Havening psychosensory therapy, this technique helps individuals process difficult memories and reduce emotional intensity by combining touch-based methods with cognitive exercises. Calgary psychologist Rea Kowal has advanced training in Havening and is the only certified Havening therapist in Alberta.
What Is Havening Therapy?
Developed by Dr. Ronald Ruden, a Harvard-trained medical doctor and neuroscience researcher, Havening is a psychosensory therapy that helps “de-link” traumatic memories from the brain’s emotional response system. By gently stroking the arms, face, and hands, and engaging in techniques like eye movements, humming, or counting, the brain begins to reinterpret distressing experiences as neutral.
This therapy fosters a felt sense of safety, helping clients reduce anxiety, stress, and emotional reactivity. It is often used as both a guided therapeutic intervention with a trained practitioner and as a self-soothing technique for ongoing emotional regulation.
How Havening Psychosensory Therapy Works
Havening works by altering the way memories are stored in the amygdala, the brain region responsible for processing emotions and fear responses. The combination of touch and cognitive distraction helps reduce the emotional charge associated with traumatic experiences. Over time, distressing memories lose their intensity, allowing the individual to feel calmer and more in control of their emotions.
Havening is gentle, non-invasive, and suitable for individuals of all ages, making it an effective alternative or complement to therapies like EMDR and EFT (tapping).
Conditions Treated with Havening Therapy
Havening psychosensory therapy has been successfully applied to:
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
- Anxiety and panic disorders
- Depression and mood dysregulation
- Complex / Developmental Trauma
- Phobias and fears
- Chronic pain and psychosomatic symptoms
- Emotional distress and trauma recovery
Havening empowers clients to take an active role in their healing, promoting resilience and long-term emotional well-being.
Frequently Asked Questions
Havening Therapy is a psychosensory technique that combines gentle touch with cognitive exercises to help reduce the emotional intensity of traumatic memories and emotional distress.
While EMDR uses eye movements and EFT uses tapping on meridian points, Havening combines touch-based techniques with cognitive distractions, making it a gentler yet effective method for trauma and anxiety.
A practitioner will guide you through gentle stroking of the arms, face, and hands while you engage in simple cognitive exercises, creating a sense of safety and reducing emotional charge.
Havening Therapy is effective for PTSD, anxiety, depression, phobias, chronic pain, and general emotional distress. It is also used as a self-soothing technique for ongoing emotional regulation.
Yes. Research and clinical studies support Havening’s effectiveness in reducing trauma-related emotional responses by altering the way distressing memories are stored in the brain, particularly in the amygdala.