The Havening Techniques in Toronto
Havening is one of the approaches I integrate within a broader trauma-informed framework, often alongside EMDR therapy, IFS therapy, and somatic therapy.
What is the Havening Techniques?
How Havening Supports Healing
Emotional wounds from trauma or chronic stress often persist in both the mind and body, showing up as anxiety, hypervigilance, or emotional shutdown. Havening interrupts these patterns by working directly with the brain’s threat-response system.
Key benefits of the Havening Techniques include:
- Neutralizing the emotional impact of traumatic memories
- Reducing chronic anxiety and panic attacks
- Regulating the nervous system for lasting calm
- Rebuilding self-trust and emotional resilience
- Enhancing clarity, control, and presence
What to Expect in a Havening Therapy Session
Each session is tailored to your pace, comfort, and therapeutic goals.
1. Safety and Grounding
We begin by creating a calm, supported space. You’ll learn simple self-soothing techniques to stay regulated throughout your journey.
2. Gentle Touch and Guided Awareness
Using specific Havening self-touch (gentle strokes on the arms, hands, or face) we activate the brain’s soothing receptors. Guided visualization or mindful awareness enhances this calming effect.
3. Processing and Rewiring
In a safe, contained way, you’ll recall a distressing memory or emotion. Havening supports the brain in reducing the amygdala’s activation and releasing the emotional charge
4. Integration and Reflection
As distress eases, we reflect on new sensations of calm or shifts in perspective, supporting integration into daily life.
Ready to start? Book your free 15-minute consultation.
Who Can Benefit from Havening Therapy?
Havening can be helpful for adults experiencing:
- Trauma or PTSD
- Anxiety and panic attacks
- Chronic stress or burnout
- Depression or low mood
- Phobias or emotional triggers
- Nervous system dysregulation
- Emotional overwhelm or shutdown
Havening works well as a standalone approach or integrated with EMDR therapy, IFS therapy, and somatic therapy for a comprehensive path to healing.
Havening vs. EMDR and Somatic Therapy
Wondering how Havening compares to other trauma therapies? Here’s a very quick breakdown:
- Havening: Uses soothing touch and visualization to de-link emotional triggers, especially effective for anxiety relief and specific traumatic memories
- EMDR: Uses bilateral stimulation to reprocess traumatic memories; highly effective for PTSD and complex trauma
- Somatic Therapy: Ephasizes body awareness and nervous system regulation; works well alongside both Havening and EMDR
Many clients benefit from a combination of approaches. We’ll determine together which combination best fits your nervous system and goals.
Client Story: When Calm Stopped Feeling Out of Reach
She came to therapy carrying a weight she couldn’t quite name. Not a single traumatic event, but years of accumulated stress: a difficult marriage, a demanding career, and the persistent sense that she was holding everything together through sheer effort alone.
She had done talk therapy before and found it helpful to a point. She understood her patterns well. What she couldn’t seem to shift was the physical experience of stress itself: the tension that lived in her body, the way she startled easily, and the feeling that her nervous system had forgotten what settled felt like.
She was skeptical about Havening Techniques at first. The idea that something as simple as gentle self-touch could create meaningful change seemed hard to believe.
Using Havening Techniques, we worked with specific stressful memories, emotions, and nervous system responses while she applied gentle touch to her arms, hands, and face. Rather than analyzing the experiences, we focused on helping her body feel safe enough to process them differently. The shift wasn’t dramatic or cathartic. It was quieter than that. A softening she had not been able to access through understanding alone.
The memories themselves did not disappear, but they gradually lost their intensity. Situations that would once have triggered a cascade of tension, worry, or self-doubt began to feel more manageable. Over several sessions, the baseline itself began to change. She started noticing moments during the day when she wasn’t bracing, when her shoulders weren’t tense, when she could encounter difficulty without immediately mobilizing against it.
She described the shift as finally having access to a gear she hadn’t known her nervous system had. As it softened its protective stance, she found herself moving through life with greater ease, resilience, and a trust in herself she hadn’t felt in years.
This story is a composite of client experiences, shared with privacy protected.
Havening Therapy in Toronto and Online Across Ontario
I offer in-person Havening sessions at my office at 151 Harbord Street in the Annex, between Spadina and Bathurst, and virtual sessions for clients throughout Ontario.
Virtual Havening sessions are fully effective and available Monday through Thursday during daytime hours. Self-touch is guided remotely, making online Havening a practical and comfortable option.
Begin Your Healing Journey with Havening
If you’re ready to reduce the emotional charge of difficult experiences and restore a sense of calm and safety, the Havening Techniques offer a gentle, evidence-informed path forward.
Book a free 15-minute consultation.
Havening therapy in the Annex, downtown Toronto and online across Ontario. Free 15-minute consult available.
Wondering about fees or insurance coverage? See my fees page.
Frequently Asked Questions About Havening Therapy
What is Havening therapy and how does it work?
The Havening Techniques use gentle self-touch combined with guided attention to calm the amygdala and reduce the emotional intensity of traumatic or distressing memories. By activating delta brain waves, Havening supports the brain in releasing the charge stored in trauma responses, gently and without requiring detailed retelling of experiences. It’s also effective for anxiety, phobias, and persistent emotional triggers.
How is Havening different from other trauma therapies?
Havening’s distinguishing feature is its use of psychosensory touch, gentle stroking that directly activates the brain’s calming mechanisms. Unlike purely cognitive or memory-focused approaches, Havening works at the neurological level to reduce the emotional charge of distressing experiences quickly and gently. Where EMDR reprocesses memories through bilateral stimulation and somatic therapy works with body awareness and nervous system regulation, Havening targets the amygdala directly through touch-based sensory input.
How do I choose between Havening, EMDR, and somatic therapy for anxiety and trauma?
EMDR works by reprocessing traumatic memories through bilateral stimulation. Somatic therapy works with how trauma is held in the body through sensation and movement. Havening works by using gentle self-touch to activate the brain’s calming mechanisms, directly reducing the amygdala’s response to distressing memories and triggers.
Havening can be particularly effective for specific emotional triggers, phobias, and anxiety responses that feel automatic and hard to shift. Victoria often combines Havening with IFS depending on what your nervous system responds to best.
Is Havening safe for trauma and PTSD?
Yes. Havening is gentle and trauma-informed, specifically designed to reduce distress without re-traumatization. It’s well-suited for PTSD and complex trauma, especially when integrated with parts-based or somatic approaches.
Can Havening be combined with EMDR or IFS therapy?
Yes. Victoria’s integrative approach often combines Havening with EMDR and IFS therapy, using each modality for what it does best. Havening for rapid nervous system calming, EMDR for memory reprocessing, and IFS for compassionate parts work.
What should I expect in the first few Havening sessions and how long does Havening therapy take?
Havening sessions begin with grounding and safety, introducing the self-touch techniques and helping you feel comfortable with the process before addressing specific distressing experiences.
Some clients notice a meaningful reduction in anxiety or emotional charge within just a few sessions, particularly for specific triggers or phobias. For more complex trauma or longstanding anxiety patterns, Havening works best as part of a broader integrative approach alongside EMDR and IFS, with progress unfolding over several months.
How many Havening sessions are typically needed?
The number of sessions varies depending on your history, goals, and nervous system readiness. Some clients notice meaningful relief within a few sessions, particularly for specific triggers or phobias. For more complex trauma or longstanding anxiety patterns, Havening works best as part of a broader integrative approach, with progress unfolding over several months.
Is online Havening therapy effective?
Yes. Havening adapts well to virtual sessions because the self-touch is applied by the client themselves, guided by the therapist. Many clients across Ontario find online Havening comfortable and effective.
Can a Registered Psychotherapist in Toronto provide virtual Havening therapy to someone living elsewhere in Ontario?
Yes. As a Registered Psychotherapist with the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario (CRPO #4361), Victoria is licensed to provide virtual Havening therapy to clients anywhere in Ontario. This includes cities like Ottawa, London, Hamilton, Kingston, and beyond. Virtual sessions are available Monday through Thursday during daytime hours.
Where is your Toronto Havening therapy office located?
My office is at 151 Harbord Street in the Annex neighbourhood, between Spadina and Bathurst, serving clients from the Annex, Yorkville, Rosedale, Summerhill, and the surrounding downtown core. Virtual Havening therapy is also available for clients anywhere in Ontario.
About Victoria Donahue, MA, RP
I’m Victoria Donahue, MA, RP, a Registered Psychotherapist (CRPO #4361) with 13+ years of clinical experience specializing in anxiety, trauma, and nervous system healing.
I am a Certified EMDR Therapist and EMDR Consultant through the EMDR International Association (EMDRIA), a Certified Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Therapist, and have advanced training in Internal Family Systems (IFS) through the IFS Institute. I hold a Master of Arts in Counselling Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute, a program rooted in depth psychology.
My approach integrates EMDR, IFS, somatic therapy, Deep Brain Reorienting (DBR), and other nervous system-focused approaches to help clients heal trauma, reduce anxiety, and develop a greater sense of safety, connection, and self-trust.
My expertise in trauma, anxiety, and psychotherapy has been cited in HuffPost, VICE, and Bustle, and I have been interviewed on podcasts discussing EMDR, IFS, trauma healing, and integrative psychotherapy.
I offer in-person psychotherapy from my office at 151 Harbord Street in the Annex, between Spadina and Bathurst, serving clients from the Annex, Yorkville, Rosedale, Summerhill, and the surrounding downtown core and virtual therapy for clients throughout Ontario.
Other modalities I offer
IFS
EMDR
SOMATIC PSYCHOTHERAPY
DBR
ARCHETYPAL PSYCHOLOGY