The key principle is that they are all used with Landscaping in mind. We are, as haveners, always considering the landscape. For example, when an individual describes an unwanted symptom, response, perception, behaviour or prediction, we are considering what receptors may be active and when they made these receptors. We are looking for the time they first learned something that relates to this response. It may have been many years ago that they made the receptors that are active now and generating this CASE. Or it may be that the individual would like more of a particular CASE, and in these cases, we will be looking for how they can increase this.

 

All the techniques are used in conjunction with psychosensory input of simple touch, which we call Havening Touch®.

 

The Havening Techniques provide us with enormous scope as recalling and accessing, imagining, spatial placement, collaging, forgetting, changing, creating, constructing new stories, storytelling, and doing working memory activities can be employed.

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The Havening Techniques also provide us with a platform where we can explore, consider and utilise:

 

• Our biological responses to risky and rewarding situations and use new helpful strategies that we can employ for better living.

• That receptors are active, and neural traffic is flowing whether we are thinking of the past or future, using working memory or observing our body or environment. In other words, we are always 'present'.

• When traffic flows through the receptors that we have made, we can experience powerful CASEs that may be wanted or unwanted. For example, we may experience great joy, chronic pain, a sense of irritation, a desire to leave or not move, rage, confusion, a tightening or softening of our body, an urge, a strong desire, love, or a sense of loss, and the range is enormous.

• An understanding of our own landscape and landscaping.

• An understanding of how we respond to cues and how we ca cue ourselves. 

• An understanding of the range of cues from scent to time, position, angles and what we see and hear and feel internally or what we touch or how we are touched.

• We can choose to aim to absorb specific receptors to change our responses.

• We can choose to activate receptors to experience CASEs.

• We can choose to aim to make new receptors to change our responses.

• We can observe how we respond and use this information to improve our lives. For example, we may discover that we are excellent at accessing somatosensory or cognitive information.

• Techniques that enable creativity, curiosity, easier learning, focus, and motivation.

• Techniques that alter unwanted fears, blocks, perceptions and predictions. 

Because the principles are robust,  the style used for the various techniques can be shaped by or for each individual. We use all of the Havening Techniques with an understanding of key principles.
 

• that symptoms and unwanted responses, perceptions or behaviours can result from encoding occurring during an EMLI (and that sensory matching then occurs, and this is the basis of the symptoms or issues) 

• that depotentiating the related receptors can lead to the cessation of symptoms or unwanted responses 

• that the earliest receptors that were potentiated are generally key so it's important to identify 'seed events'.

• that information is encoded at the moment that the four requirements of EMLI come together (sensory input and CASE are bound together)

• that the landscape changes through learning

• that we can choose to harness the mechanisms of learning (neuroplasticity) using Havening Techniques®

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Let's look at the functions and aims of the different Havening Techniques. Again, you can clearly see the principles in action.