Trauma is the inner wounds that you cannot see but feel the effects of sometimes consciously and other times it can surface in unconscious thought patterns, behaviours and beliefs. People are often put off by the idea of exploring or acknowledging what or how much trauma they are carrying, as they feel they may be opening “Pandora’s Box” or that they would have to relive their trauma in vivid detail and that this process would be too overwhelming and send them down a path of suffering or re-traumatisation. My approach is gentle and effective. I have worked with so many people using this approach and not one person to date has at any point felt overwhelmed, in fact most people are amazed by how much lighter they feel after a session with me!

If you have landed on this page, the likelihood is that you have experienced some level of trauma in your life and are having difficulties on either a physical, mental and/or emotional level. Think back to any time in your life that was upsetting or highly stressful, how did you manage your feelings or emotions around that situation? What we are mostly encouraged to do (by people who have no idea how to identify, acknowledge, manage and heal trauma) when a traumatic event happens, is suppress the emotions or feelings that may be triggered around the event or situation and move on (so we think). When nobody knows what to do or how to support you with it, you most likely decided to lock it away in a metaphorical box in the back of your mind and tell yourself “it’s done now just get on with your life”. This can happen over and over throughout our life experience, one trauma on top of another and what people fail to realise is that, trauma gets stored in our mind, body and nervous system. Trauma and the suppressed emotions that go along with it, does not ever really go away until you actively process it and it will show up in many other ways until you eventually reach a point of awareness that something needs to change.

I look upon myself as a Trauma Detective. I will search and question until I help you get to the root of the trauma you may be carrying. Having a quite extensive trauma history myself, I reached a point early on in my twenties where life was going as I had hoped but internally I just wasn’t very happy. I would outwardly be quite socially confident but inwardly I doubted myself and my mindset was very negative. I had a lot of suppressed hurt and anger which led to big over-reactions, which would set off another vicious cycle of hurt and pain with a side order of guilt on top of it. Small things would trigger big reactions and I felt very ashamed that I couldn’t let go of the anger. I was also medicating this pain in any way I could – cigarettes, alcohol and food being my go-to “numbing tools”. I realised if I continued on the way I was going, I would lose relationships that I value dearly and I would never find that true happiness, self-love and fulfilment I was craving deep down. So began my own journey of healing trauma. It has been a journey filled with ups and downs but I would do it all again to get to where I am today – a much happier, peaceful, content and fulfilled Sarah!

Everybody is carrying some level of unconscious or unresolved trauma within and that can have a very uncomfortable impact on our mind, body and spirit. It can also hinder and challenge us in our daily lives and as a result, reduce our quality of life. 

As part of its protocol The Havening Techniques uses the sensory input of human touch as a therapeutic tool which we have identified as Havening Touch®. 

The Havening Techniques® are powerful tools that can be used to treat the consequences of encoded traumatic or stressful memories. Depending on the nature of the encoded trauma it can be done with guidance by a certified Havening Techniques practitioner or by oneself.

Havening has three (3) distinct applications—the first is for emotional disturbances and encoded psychological trauma; the second is for wellness, stress management, and peak performance; and the third is a self-help tool. 

Havening can be described as a type of psychosensory modality based on the fields of neuroscience and neurobiology, which uses sensory input in order to alter thought, mood, and behaviour. It is believed that when an event or experience is perceived as traumatic or stressful, it becomes immutably encoded in the psyche and the body, often with life altering consequences. Havening is designed to make changes in the brain in order to de-traumatize and remove from both the psyche and the body the emotional memory of a traumatic or stressful life event and its negative effects. Therefore, Havening is a healing modality that is designed to help individuals overcome problems that are the consequence of traumatic or stressful encoding. Havening comprises a number of protocols; one of these protocols used as a therapeutic tool includes human touch, and is identified as Havening Touch®.

Discovering The Havening Techniques has been life changing for me on so many levels. I struggled for many years to find my true purpose in life and when I started my journey to becoming a Havening Techniques Practitioner, everything started to fall into place for me personally and professionally. I carried my own unresolved pain for many years and many times looked for support in the wrong places. I did many years of talk therapy and while I found it so helpful, supportive and beneficial, a few months after finishing up with a therapist, I would feel that pain slowly creep back in. I think this is because while talking about pain is an excellent way to identify and acknowledge it, that wasn’t enough for me. I still had lots of pain and hurt suppressed deep in my body that would only come up in very unconscious ways. Havening gave me a very effective way of releasing that pain permanently. Don’t get me wrong, I am still a work in progress but I feel lighter and lighter with each session I do! I can see now that releasing that pain from my body was the missing link in my healing journey. Plus the reward and results I get from working with others using the Havening Techniques is nothing short of phenomenal!!

What Types of Problems Can Havening be Used for?

The consequences of traumatic encoding can be physical and psychological. Havening has been shown to help with:

Phobias

Chronic pain

Distressing memories (broken relationships, shocking news, loss, embarrassment, etc.)

Victims of natural disasters (hurricanes, floods, etc.) and man-made (war, fire, assault,home intrusion, etc.)

Anger-Fear of abandonment

Stress/Anxiety

Self Esteem

Cravings

PTSD

Panic attacks

Sexual abuse

Performance enhancement

Public speaking

Sports

Emotional eating

Emotional Supression