Ronald a. Ruden, md, phd, a harvard-trained medical doctor who specializes in neuroscience and emotional trauma. A published author on trauma and addictions, he is founder of the havening techniques®. Since 1983, he has run an internal medicine practice in manhattan and dedicated part of the proceeds to follow research interests. His first efforts were described in his book, the craving brain, a neurobiological discussion of addictive behaviors. In 2003 he began a new research project involving the understanding of traumatization that has led to three publications in traumatology, edited by charles figley, and to this book. He continues his research on traumatization.
According to ruden, havening can be performed on oneself, done by a havening practioner or even performed over the phone. The process involves recalling a traumatic memory in as much detail as possible before embarking on a series of movements and thought activities. The technique starts by either rubbing your forehead or arms, as seen in the justin beiber documentary series, then counting to 20 while visualizing a calming activity such as swimming in a pool, walking in a field or playing ping-pong. After counting to 20, the subject hums a children's song — examples given by ruden include "row, row your boat" and "take me out to the ball game" — before re-evaluating how much distress the traumatic memory brings.
The havening technique is a form of psycho-sensory therapy. The particular kind of touch activates electro chemicals via the skin receptors that bring relaxation and a sense of safety to the body and mind. Dr. Ronald ruden who created havening discovered that certain kinds of touch in particular areas of the body – the most receptive areas to the touch being arms, face and palms – activate hormones and neurotransmittors in the body such as gaba and serotonin, dopamine and oxytocin. These hormones and neurotransmittors bring about relaxation, a sense of love and connection, activate the social engagement system and regulate anxiety and mood.
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We have all experienced the fight or flight response – the feelings of anger, fear or anxiety which arise when we feel under threat. The fight or flight response is initiated by the amygdala, a small area of the brain which has a primary role in the processing of memory, decision making and emotional reactions.
Sometimes those feelings of anger, fear or anxiety can become a problem – if they become habitual or they are sparked off inappropriately. If that arises, the question is how to turn off the negative feelings. You have probably experienced for yourself that logic doesn’t work, and that is where havening comes in.
I prefer to work in two hour sessions; it’s not mandatory or anything, you can decide, but in a longer block we can get a lot more achieved than in two separate single hours, so this will save you money in the long run. Most of my clients have tried everything to resolve their problems and they just want to feel differently, as soon as possible. So in two hour sessions, we get to our result in half the number of weeks. I advise that clients plan for an initial block of 3 x two hour sessions on a weekly basis, then we can assess our progress and continue with shorter sessions, or space them further apart.