LT asks: "Is Havening (Technique) new age? Should one avoid Havening?"Yes, one should avoid the Havening Technique but not because it's New Age (it's not). It should be avoided because it has not been clinically proven to work.
The Havening Technique (HT) was developed by Ronald Ruden, M.D., along with his twin brother, Steven, a dentist, and seeks to treat people suffering from trauma with a combination of memory recall and touch.
This article, written by Christian Jarrett, Ph.D. and appearing last year in Psychology Today, describes the technique as follows:
"First is activation of the emotional content of the [traumatic] event by imaginal recall ... A gentle and soothing touch is then applied to the upper arms, palms and around the eyes. It produces an extrasensory response of safety that arises from the evolutionary equivalent of what a mother’s touch does at the time of birth. It is innately wired. Concurrently with havening touch the therapist distracts the individual. Since the mind cannot hold two thoughts simultaneously, the use of distraction displaces the recalled event from working memory and prevents it from re-activating the amygdala [a part of the brain associated with feelings of fear and aggression]."
The big question is, does the therapy work and do we know this from sources other than proponents of the technique.
Unfortunately, there has been little objective science conducted to date on this technique.
According to this article in Healthline, a small 2015 study looked at 27 healthcare professionals suffering from depression or anxiety that was serious enough to affect their work. After one session of Havening, they reported improvement that lasted up to two months. However, there was no control group used in the study, the number of participants was small, and it was conducted via self-reporting, all of which makes it less than conclusive.
Another small study conducted in 2018 explored its potential for use in pain management but the results were not promising.
The main risks with havening is that although it doesn't require a person to openly discuss traumatic events, it could still trigger distress.
"Without support from a trained mental health professional, these painful feelings might become overwhelming. Some symptoms, such as depression or anxiety, could potentially get worse."
My advice is to take a pass on HT and stick to methods that have been proven to work.
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