The Havening Technique

In May 2014, I went to a weekend seminar in London with Richard Bandler and Paul Mckenna, called, ‘Get The Life You Want’. I was excited about hearing Bandler explain Neuro‐Linguistic Programming (NLP) and how it can help people. However, there is one thing I remember most about the whole weekend. I took out a notebook and started to write. He saw me and suddenly yelled loudly at me, “No notes!” All two thousand people heard, stopped and looked at me.

Electrochemical Responses

The brain takes a ‘snapshot’ of a whole situation when it is perceived as dangerous; all the sights, sounds, smells and the emotions connected to it. These sensory inputs can be transduced into electrochemical responses which become encoded in specific areas in the brain. Years later, we may not even know why we feel the way we do about certain things – going out, speaking in public, crowds, open spaces, flying, water...

Events experienced as children – which may even seem insignificant to an adult – can create ‘trauma’ that stays with us. Scientists have found that whether we are conscious of it or not, a trauma is encoded in the amygdala, the part of the brain that stores emotion.

The Healing Touch

Back at the same seminar, long after I had put my notebook away and my pulse rate was back to normal, Paul McKenna took a spot to demonstrate a new therapy he was excited about. Remembered as a TV hypnotherapist, Mckenna is now a respected behavioural scientist, broadcaster and author of many self-help books. McKenna asked for an audience member who would like to get rid of an unpleasant memory or trauma. A haunted looking Italian woman volunteered herself...