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New insights and understandings

The holistic human givens approach has generated, through the research of its co-founders and others, new insights and findings which are consistent with the latest neuroscientific research (as well as findings from other disciplines), and have major implications for making not only psychotherapy and counselling more effective, but also education and psychological interventions in general.

These are covered at length on the HG Diploma course and individually on other HG College's, online courses and UK-based training days and are fully referenced in our many publications.

They include:

  • Helps us to identify why a person is experiencing their current difficulties and what can be done about it
  • A new view of the unconscious mind – the APET™ model – which is compatible with neuroscience, clinical experience and experiment, and which shows how the brain works through ‘pattern matching’. This supersedes cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) because it is more true to the reality of brain functioning
  • A new insight into trauma and, therefore, how best to treat it
  • An holistic understanding of the evolutionary origins and function of human dreaming, which has huge implications for our emotional health
  • The crucial link between thinking styles and fluctuations in emotional arousal
  • An holistic, integrated theory for why depression develops and is maintained
  • A new explanation for addiction and why withdrawal symptoms occur
  • The discovery of ‘molar memories’ which generate and maintain some instances of compulsive behaviour (such as sexual compulsions, anorexia and bulimia)
  • An understanding of why the use of metaphor is so powerful as a form of treatment
  • A comprehensive understanding of the placebo and ‘nocebo’ effects
  • A psychobiological explanation of clinical hypnosis, why it works and what mechanisms are common to all forms of hypnotic induction
  • A new, empowering understanding of the potential cause of autism
  • A new insight into what psychosis is
  • Caetextia: a new definition of autistic and Asperger's behaviour
  • A more comprehensive understanding of the importance of the REM (rapid eye movement) state in generating reality and accessing intuitive knowledge
  • A new understanding of the nature of consciousness.

Explore our articles and interviews

Search our archive

  • Sue's Story - IRA bombing

    In 1991 Sue Hanisch was caught up in an IRA bombing at Victoria Station, London. She lost her right leg as a result and sufferd from severe PTSD for nine years…

  • Case Study: Antidepressant experience

    Case history: James shares his difficult experience of coming off anti-depressant medication – and reflects on the effects they have had on his life.

  • Molar Memories: how an ancient mechanism can ruin lives

    When we react excessively to events, major or minor, we may be victims of a primitive survival mechanism gone awry, suggests Joe Griffin. Despite often causing years of distress, it can be treated successfully — and usually remarkably quickly.

  • The riddle of conditioned taste adversion

    THE pain–pleasure recall principle also explains the well-known phenomenon of conditioned taste aversion, which has always presented a problem for classical conditioning.

  • Sue Gray

    When someone's daily life becomes bogged down by a personal difficulty, they often cannot find a way through it for themselves...

  • How the police measure up

    By introducing the human givens approach along with outcome measurements, Jayne Timmins has made her mark on Dyfed-Powys police.

  • Just what couples need

    Véronique Chown explores the value of the human givens approach in successful couples therapy.

Latest News:

HG practitioner participates in global congress

HG practitioner Felicity Jaffrey, who lives and works in Egypt, received the extraordinary honour of being invited to speak at Egypt’s hugely prestigious Global Congress on Population, Health and Human Development (PHDC24) in Cairo in October.

SCoPEd - latest update

The six SCoPEd partners have published their latest update on the important work currently underway with regards to the SCoPEd framework implementation, governance and impact assessment.

Date posted: 14/02/2024