Midwest Haven

About Midwest Haven

Midwest Haven was established to support individuals that suffer from trauma, anxiety, depression, and other emotionally distressing and adverse experiences. Midwest Haven is also for providers interested in keeping informed on profound advancements of treatment modalities that can better serve their patients/clients. Midwest Haven’s mission is to alleviate suffering from experiences with traumatic events/adverse experiences, and to build and strengthen resilience to protect from future stressors.  We are about giving people freedom, and giving people hope they can be the person they have always wanted.

Nicole Carreon, LMTF, and Holli Engelhart, LICSW founded Midwest Haven to support the healing process of clients, and to share and educate fellow clinicians, medical professionals, and many other professions on Havening Techniques ®.

Havening Techniques is a type of treatment that uses touch, and other sensory inputs, to support the healing of trauma, adverse experiences, and multitude of emotional/mental health conditions. It was developed from advancements in neuroscience which has determined how particular touch points release chemicals in the brain; and when paired with specific working memory protocols, allows neurons to release previously encoded trauma. Havening Techniques was developed by Dr. Steven Ruden and Dr. Ronald Ruden, who originally called it Amygdala Depotentiation Therapy. Extensive research and studies have determined these protocols support relief in a myriad of conditions that involve emotional and mental health concerns.

Touch is a powerful healing tool. For many years touch was disconnected from the healing work of psychotherapy. Now thanks to deeper understanding from neuroscience, we are seeing the efficacy of integrating self-applied touch into the work of psychotherapy.

Havening Techniques

What is Havening Techniques?

Havening Techniques ® can be described as a type of psycho-sensory (touch) technique based on the fields of neuroscience and neurobiology which uses sensory input in order to alter thought, mood, and behavior.  Havening is designed to make changes in the brain in order to remove from both the psyche and the body the emotional memory of a traumatic or stressful life event and its negative effects. When a person experiences a traumatic or stressful event, it becomes immutably encoded in the psyche and the body. Once encoded this can manifest as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxieties, phobias or other psychological disorders. Havening Techniques promotes rapid, gentle and permanent electrochemical and physical change by combining specific touch with guided cognitive exercises that creates a chemical response in our brains that allow emotional responses to traumatic memories to be removed.

Havening allows us quickly and effectively to take a traumatic experience and release the traumatically encoded components so it becomes just another memory.  What that means is that specific memory will not activate the entire physiology of fight/flight/freeze when a person encounters a stimulus similar to one in the traumatically encoded experience.  It will no longer burn out the adrenal system (panic) or cause the person to reach for food or alcohol, etc, to soothe their nervous system because of the impact of that earlier trauma.  So the individual is back in a place of empowered control. 

“When an event or experience is perceived as traumatic or very stressful it becomes immutably encoded, often with life-altering consequences. However, recent research from the field of neuroscience has shown us how it’s possible to modify this encoding. The Havening Techniques are methods which are designed to change the brain to de-traumatize the memory and permanently remove its negative effects from both our psyche and body.”

~ Ronald A. Ruden, M.D., Ph.D.- Co-founder of The Havening Techniques www.havening.org

Holli Engelhart, LICSW(left)- Dr. Steven Ruden, Co-founder of The Havening Techniques (center)- Nicole Carreon, LMFT (right)

What Can Havening Help With?

  • Anxiety is a common and natural emotion that everyone experiences from time to time. It can help us cope with stressful or challenging situations, such as preparing for a test, facing a problem, or making a decision. However, anxiety can also become overwhelming and interfere with our daily lives, causing us to feel fearful, nervous, or restless for no apparent reason. Remember that anxiety is not a weakness. Anxiety disorders are very treatable and there are many options available to help people cope with their anxiety.

  • Depression is a mental health disorder that affects a person's mood, thoughts, and behavior. It is more than just temporary feelings of sadness or low energy. Depression can persist for weeks, months, or even years if left untreated. It's important to note that not everyone with depression experiences all of these symptoms, and the severity can vary. Depression can significantly impact a person's quality of life, relationships, and overall well-being.

  • Emotional resilience refers to an individual's ability to adapt and bounce back from life's challenges, setbacks, and stressful situations. It is the capacity to withstand and recover from adversity while maintaining mental well-being. Resilience is not the absence of difficulty or hardship, but rather the ability to navigate through them skillfully.

  • Insecurity and low self-esteem are closely related and refer to feelings of inadequacy, self-doubt, and a lack of self-confidence. These issues can have a significant impact on a person's well-being, relationships, and overall quality of life. Addressing insecurity and low self-esteem requires self-reflection and proactive steps towards building a healthier self-perception and self-worth.

  • Panic refers to an intense and overwhelming feeling of fear or anxiety that arises suddenly and unexpectedly. It is often accompanied by physical sensations and can lead to a sense of loss of control or impending doom. Panicking can manifest in different ways for each individual. It's important to note that panic attacks are not inherently dangerous, although they can be overwhelming and frightening. They usually reach a peak within minutes and then gradually subside. However, the fear of experiencing panic attacks or the anticipation of panic can lead to significant distress and avoidance behaviors, impacting a person's quality of life.

  • Phobia refers to an intense and irrational fear or anxiety towards a specific object, situation, or activity. It is characterized by a persistent and overwhelming fear that is disproportionate to the actual threat posed by the feared object or situation. Phobias can significantly interfere with a person's daily life and well-being, as individuals often go to great lengths to avoid the feared stimulus.

  • Chronic pain can have various causes, such as injury, disease, inflammation, or a malfunction in the nervous system. Some common conditions associated with chronic pain include fibromyalgia, arthritis, back pain, neuropathic pain, migraines, and certain autoimmune disorders. The experience of chronic pain can vary greatly between individuals, both in terms of its intensity and the impact it has on daily life.

  • Shame is an intense and painful emotion characterized by a deep sense of inadequacy, guilt, or embarrassment about oneself and one's actions. It involves feeling as though one is fundamentally flawed or unworthy as a person. Shame can be experienced in response to real or perceived failures, mistakes, or actions that are judged by oneself or others as morally, socially, or personally unacceptable.

  • Trauma is a term that describes the emotional and psychological impact of a distressing or life-threatening event. There are different types of trauma, such as physical, emotional, acute, chronic, and complex. Trauma can affect people in different ways, depending on the nature, severity, and duration of the event, as well as the individual’s coping skills and support system.

  • Work/Sports/School Performance Enhancement refers to the application of various methods, strategies, and interventions to improve one’s performance in different domains of life. Performance enhancement can be achieved through physical, mental, emotional, and social factors that influence one’s motivation, skills, confidence, and well-being.

The Havening Techniques engage our inherent biological system to permanently heal, strengthen and empower our minds and bodies.

Midwest Haven was established to support individuals that suffer from trauma, anxiety, depression, and other emotionally distressing and adverse experiences.  For providers interested in keeping informed on profound advancements in trauma care.

Have you ever…

  • …cancelled plans or vacation due to experiencing a trigger of your adverse experience?

  • …experienced anger/resentment from family/friends due to your reactions to stressors/anxieties.

  • …lost significant time/money due to anxiety/depression/trauma?

  • …experienced significant anxiety/panic that resulted in ruining plans due to fear/phobia?

  • …lost focus or “shut down” or lost track of time due to incident involving your anxiety/panic?

  • Or countless others…