Human Givens · Atlas

1. Introduction

Version followed: the human givens (HG) approach as published by its co-founders Joe Griffin and Ivan Tyrrell and the Human Givens Institute (HGI, Chalvington, East Sussex, UK): the HGI's online articles and practitioner checklist, the APET model (Griffin & Tyrrell, Human Givens Journal 2001, updated online 2025), the RIGAAR session structure as applied by an HG-trained GP (Lake 2019), and the HG Rewind protocol as set out by Adams et al. (2022, adapted from Griffin & Tyrrell 2001, The Shackled Brain). The founders' core books (Human Givens, 2004; The Shackled Brain, 2001) are not drawn on; their content comes only through HGI articles and the Adams et al. papers. [uncertain] where the books would add detail.

Human givens is an integrative framework (its authors call it an organising idea) rather than a single manualised therapy. It holds that people come with innate physical and emotional needs (security; giving and receiving attention; autonomy and control; emotional intimacy; belonging to a wider community; privacy; status; competence and achievement; meaning and purpose) and innate resources for meeting them (long-term memory, rapport and empathy, imagination, emotions and instincts, a rational mind, metaphorical pattern-matching, an observing self, and a dreaming brain). Distress arises when needs go unmet or resources are misused, e.g. imagination turned to worry. [source: HGI, What are the human givens?] Change, in this account, comes from (a) lowering emotional arousal so the client can think flexibly, (b) altering the pattern matches that drive emotion (APET: Activating stimulus, Pattern match, Emotion, Thought, with emotion preceding thought), and (c) helping the client get unmet needs met in their actual life, using their own resources. [source: Griffin & Tyrrell, APET model; HGI, What's different about HG therapy] HG therapists draw on cognitive, behavioural, solution-focused, motivational and hypnotherapeutic methods within this framework and use their own detraumatisation procedure, the Rewind technique. [source: HGI, What's different; Adams et al. 2022]

2. Framework

HG has no fixed phase manual. The working structure the HG literature uses is RIGAAR, applied both across a course of therapy and within each session [source: Lake 2019]:

Stage	Goal	What happens
R: Rapport	Client feels heard; arousal begins to drop	Let the client speak uninterrupted, then reflect back their concerns
I: Information gathering (and giving)	Understand which needs are unmet and which resources are misused; assess risk; normalise	Needs audit, risk and need assessment, brief targeted information, listening for resources throughout
G: Goal setting	A concrete, expectation-raising target	"Best hopes" and solution-focused questions that make the goal specific and observable
A: Accessing resources	Bring past coping, skills and strengths into play	Questions about how the client has coped; resource retrieval in relaxation
A: Agreeing strategies	Practical steps the client owns	Tasks, skills, needs-meeting actions, Rewind for trauma
R: Rehearsal	Prime success	Guided imagery of the client succeeding in the preferred future

Session count and format. Individual, face to face (also online). HGI states that improvement usually comes in one to six sessions and that HG therapists aim to use as few sessions as possible; much of the work (psychoeducation, reframing, problem solving, skills, rehearsal) is often done in a single session. [source: HGI, What's different; HGI, Effective counselling checklist] In four practice-based trauma studies, mean course length was 5 to 6.5 sessions (range 1 to 24), and 73 to 84% completed in six or fewer. [source: Adams et al. 2022] Rewind may be given in a double-length session (Lake 2019); no standard session length is published in the sources. [uncertain]

Sequencing rules (decision procedure).

Lower emotional arousal first (relaxation, being heard, normalising); only then do cognitive or problem-solving work, because high arousal produces black-and-white thinking. [source: APET model]
For depression, the first task is to stop emotionally arousing rumination and lower arousal "as quickly as possible". [source: HGI, How to lift depression]
Where trauma or phobic pattern matches drive symptoms, detraumatise (Rewind), typically early, in most cases in one session according to HGI. [source: HGI, What's different; HGI, Rewind]
Choose the APET entry point: change the Activating stimulus (life circumstances) where possible; uncouple false Pattern links; calm Emotion; then work on Thought. [source: APET model]
Offer several interventions from the first session rather than spending sessions on assessment alone. [source: APET model]

Criteria for moving on / ending. Not published as formal criteria. Practical markers drawn from the sources: arousal low enough for the client to reason and plan (move from E to T work) [source: APET model]; a Rewind memory run until scenes evoke no emotion (move to future rehearsal) [source: HGI, Rewind]; the client feels better after each session and is gaining confidence and independence (HGI checklist). End when goals are met and needs are being met through the client's own actions [synthesis]. Track progress with routine measures (Adams et al. used IES-R, CORE-10/CORE-OM, GAD-7, PHQ-9 every session) and an emotional needs measure. [source: Adams et al. 2022; HGI, Emotional Needs Scale]

3. Guiding principles

Sources: HGI checklist (17 items), APET model, HGI What's different, Lake 2019, Okhai 2003, HGI How to lift depression. One line each on practical meaning.

Needs and resources as the benchmark. Ask what is missing or misused in this person's life, not only what diagnosis fits. [HGI]
Emotion precedes thought. Treat faulty thinking as a product of arousal; calm first, reason second. [APET]
Arousal locks attention. A highly aroused client is in a narrowed, trance-like focus; lowering arousal widens options. [Okhai 2003; How to lift depression]
Build rapport quickly. Listen uninterrupted, reflect, help the client feel heard within minutes. [checklist; Lake]
Enter the client's reality. Work in the client's language and world rather than imposing the therapist's categories. [APET]
Help from the first session. Start lifting depression and calming anxiety immediately; the client should leave every session feeling better. [checklist]
Do not dwell on the past. Focus forward on skills and life changes, even after trauma. [checklist; What's different]
Support without overwhelm. Do not push the client into emotional flooding beyond letting bottled-up feelings out. [checklist]
Therapy need not be painful. Do not tell clients that distress is a necessary part of change. [checklist]
Use the client's resources. Search for past successes and coping and reflect them back. [checklist; Lake]
Raise expectation. The brain acts on expectation; have the client describe a better future in vivid detail. [Lake; How to lift depression]
Positive language and nominalisations. Use abstract positive words (strengths, determination) that invite the client's own matching memories; avoid amplifying words like "depression" or "misery". [Okhai 2003]
Give advice when needed or asked, but prefer client-found solutions. In brief contacts unsolicited advice is rarely taken up. [checklist; Lake]
No psychobabble; limited, targeted psychoeducation. One or two points tied to the client's story. [checklist; Lake]
Teach deep relaxation. Every client gets a way to calm their own arousal. [checklist]
Reframe. Help clients think about problems in new, more empowering ways. [checklist]
Wide repertoire. Use whatever technique fits; HG is "fluid and flexible". [checklist; What's different]
Between-session tasks. Give tasks that get needs met and break patterns. [checklist]
Brevity and independence. As few sessions as possible; build confidence, not dependence. [checklist]
Consider the system. Think about how change affects people close to the client. [checklist]
Social skills serve needs. Help clients build the skills to get affection, friendship, intimacy and community. [checklist]
Emphasise what the client did. Affirm actions taken, not failures. [Okhai 2003]

[source for section 3: as tagged in each line; wording is paraphrase]

4. Intervention inventory

All example language is illustrative wording written for this guide, not the founders' or authors' words, unless quoted and cited. Interventions are grouped as: A. assessment and session process (RIGAAR); B. arousal reduction, relaxation and imagery; C. meaning, pattern and language work; D. behavioural and needs-meeting work; E. trauma and phobia (Rewind).

A1. Rapport building (R)

Purpose / when: Every first contact and session opening; lowers arousal by helping the client feel heard. [source: Lake 2019; HGI checklist]
Steps: (1) Invite the client to tell you what is troubling them and let them talk without interrupting. (2) Reflect back the main concerns briefly in their own key words. (3) Check you have it right. (4) Normalise where appropriate (see C1) before moving to questions.
Example language (illustrative): "So the panic has been coming most mornings, you've stopped driving, and what worries you most is losing your job. Have I got that right?"
Watch for: Visible settling (slower speech, shoulders dropping); the client adding detail unprompted. If arousal climbs while recounting, move early to breathing (B1). [synthesis]

A2. Information gathering and giving, including risk (I)

Purpose / when: First session and as new problems arise: identify unmet needs, misused resources, risk, and the client's resources. [source: Lake 2019; HGI, What's different]
Steps: (1) Ask about current life across the physical needs (sleep, food, exercise, shelter, contact) and emotional needs. (2) Assess risk to self and others using your service's standard risk assessment (Lake names risk and need assessment as part of this stage; the HG sources give no HG-specific risk procedure) [synthesis for method]. (3) Ask about drink, drugs, medication and medical issues. (4) Listen for resources throughout (skills, interests, people, past coping). (5) Give one or two pieces of information tied to what the client said (see C1, C2).
Example language (illustrative): "How are you sleeping? Who do you see in an ordinary week? What gives you a sense of achievement at the moment, even small things?"
Watch for: Rumination-driven exhaustion (early waking, tired on rising) suggesting depression work (C2); an obvious unmet need with a practical fix (D3).

A3. Emotional needs audit

Purpose / when: Structured way to see which needs are unmet; used by therapists, teachers and GPs as a starting point for discussion. [source: HGI, Emotional Needs Scale]
Steps: (1) Use the HGI Emotional Needs Audit (ENA, 11 items) or the Emotional Needs Scale (ENS, 14 items, five-point frequency ratings over the past month; Culham 2008), obtained from HGI; do not improvise items. (2) Go through low-scoring needs in conversation. (3) For each low need, ask what would be different if it were better met, and what one step would start that. (4) Feed the answers into goal setting (A4) and tasks (D1). (5) Optionally repeat to track change [synthesis: the source does not describe repeat use].
Example language (illustrative): "You've rated belonging and meaning quite low. If those were a bit better met three months from now, what would you be doing?" (Lake used this kind of question with a client whose needs for meaning, competence and belonging were unmet.)
Watch for: Clients for whom one need dominates (e.g. security when there is ongoing threat), which takes priority over symptom work [synthesis].

A4. Goal setting with solution-focused questions (G)

Purpose / when: Early in each session; turns complaints into concrete, expectation-raising goals. [source: Lake 2019]
Steps: (1) Ask for the client's best hopes from the session or therapy. (2) Build each next question on the previous answer, presupposing change. (3) Move from abstract ("stop feeling fed up") to concrete, observable signs, including what others would notice. (4) Optionally project forward: imagine a point weeks ahead and describe what has changed. (5) Agree a small first sign of progress.
Example language (illustrative): "Suppose things are a bit better by the time we meet in four weeks. What will you have been doing differently? What would your husband notice first?"
Watch for: Goals stated as the absence of something; keep going until the client describes something they would be doing. A client who brightens while describing the future is building expectation, which is the intended effect.

A5. Accessing resources (A)

Purpose / when: Throughout; locates strengths and coping to build on. [source: Lake 2019; Okhai 2003]
Steps: (1) Ask how the client has managed to keep going despite the problem. (2) Ask about times they handled pressure well, hobbies, skills, people they help. (3) Reflect the resources back explicitly. (4) Use them as material for relaxation imagery (B3) and strategies (D1).
Example language (illustrative): "You've lived with this anxiety for years and still held down a job and supported your family. How have you done that?" (Lake asked a long-term anxious patient a coping question of this kind.)
Watch for: The client recognising competence they had discounted; a shift in posture or tone when talking about a resource.

A6. Agreeing strategies and rehearsal (A, R)

Purpose / when: End of each session: fix what the client will do and prime success. [source: Lake 2019]
Steps: (1) Summarise the goal and resources. (2) Ask the client what they could do this week; add a suggestion only if needed or requested. (3) Agree one or two specific tasks. (4) Rehearse: have the client describe, in vivid sensory detail, doing it successfully (eyes may drift away as they imagine), or use guided imagery in relaxation (B4).
Example language (illustrative): "So the plan is ten minutes of the breathing each morning and a walk to the shop on Thursday. Picture Thursday now: where are you, what do you notice as you walk in?"
Watch for: Tasks the client agrees to only to please you; check ownership ("How likely is it you'll do it, out of ten?") [synthesis].

B1. 7/11 breathing

Purpose / when: Rapid arousal reduction, taught early to almost every anxious, angry or depressed client and used between sessions. [source: Gerrard 2013; Okhai 2003; Lake 2019]
Steps: (1) Explain the rationale: a longer out-breath than in-breath is held to stimulate the calming (parasympathetic) system (the source notes this is not definitively proven). (2) Have the client breathe from the diaphragm, in through the nose to a count of 7, out to a count of 11. (3) The out-breath can be slowed through pursed lips, as if through a straw; a finger under the nose can help the client make it gentler. (4) Keep breaths comfortable, not maximal. (5) If the 7/11 ratio feels unnatural, shorten the counts while keeping the out-breath longer, or ease in gradually [the shorter-count adaptation is synthesis; the source supports gradual lengthening of the exhale]. (6) Practise in session for a few minutes, then set home practice (Okhai's client: 15 minutes three times a day).
Example language (illustrative): "Breathe in gently through your nose while I count to seven... and now let it out slowly, longer than the in-breath, all the way to eleven."
Watch for: Light-headedness or tingling (possible over-breathing: slow down, breathe less deeply); discomfort or anxiety if the pattern feels forced. Some people prefer equal in/out counts; Gerrard's small study found nearly half did. [source: Gerrard 2013]

B2. Deep relaxation / therapeutic trance

Purpose / when: To lower arousal and create a focused, receptive state for resource retrieval, reframes, rehearsal and Rewind. The founders link this state to the REM state and describe it as a natural learning state; this is their theoretical claim. [source: APET model; Okhai 2003] Used by HG therapists as clinical hypnosis within their competence.
Steps: (1) Preparation and consent: explain that this is relaxation in which the client stays aware and in control, can stop at any time, and will remember the session; answer misconceptions [synthesis for consent wording]. (2) Screening [synthesis, sources give none]: do not use for clients with active psychosis, severe dissociative disorder, or epilepsy triggered by relaxation; use with care with severe depression with high suicide risk, intoxication, or untreated trauma likely to surface. (3) Induction: start with 7/11 breathing, then a gradual progressive relaxation of the body (Okhai: about 20 minutes). (4) Deepening: the sources do not specify a method [uncertain]; common options are a slow count or imagined descent into a pleasant, safe place (the Rewind protocol uses a relaxed place). (5) Therapeutic content: B3 to B5 and C-group reframes. (6) Re-alerting: count up or invite the client to return their attention to the room, opening their eyes when ready. (7) Debrief: ask what they noticed; check they are fully alert before leaving [synthesis]. (8) Self-practice: daily breathing-led relaxation; a recording is an option but not described in the sources [synthesis].
Example language (illustrative): "As your breathing slows, you might notice your shoulders letting go a little more with each out-breath... and you can let yourself drift to a place where you feel comfortable and safe."
Watch for: Slower breathing, facial muscle relaxation, stillness. Distress or intrusive memories: stop content, re-orient to the room, use breathing. Do not use relaxation or trance to search for or "recover" memories. [synthesis, per guide rules]

B3. Resource retrieval in relaxation (positive nominalisations)

Purpose / when: To make the client's own past strengths available for the current problem; uses the founders' idea that the brain pattern-matches abstract words to personal experience. [source: APET model; Okhai 2003]
Steps: (1) Before the trance, ask about times the client coped under pressure (A5) and note their examples. (2) In relaxation, invite them to review those times. (3) Use abstract positive words (strengths, persistence, determination, resourcefulness) and let the client fill them with their own memories. (4) Link the recalled qualities to the current situation. (5) Avoid negative nominalisations (depression, misery). (6) Re-alert and debrief.
Example language (illustrative): "...and as you rest there, your mind can go back to those times when you drew on a quiet determination... noticing what that felt like... knowing that the same strength is available now."
Watch for: Small smiles, nods or changes in breathing as memories surface; in debrief, the client naming a specific memory.

B4. Guided imagery rehearsal of success

Purpose / when: End of session (the second R of RIGAAR), before feared situations, and in depression to prime action, on the founders' premise that the brain tries to bring about what it focuses on. [source: HGI, How to lift depression; HGI, What's different; Lake 2019; Okhai 2003]
Steps: (1) Agree the target behaviour (e.g. going into school until break, driving to work). (2) In relaxation (or simply with eyes closed), have the client imagine the situation in sensory detail. (3) Guide them through doing it calmly and successfully, including the moment the difficulty usually starts and how they handle it. (4) Embed expectation that it will get easier with repetition (Okhai embedded future habit in this way). (5) Re-alert.
Example language (illustrative): "See yourself getting out of the car, walking toward the entrance, breathing slowly... noticing that the feeling is there, and that you keep walking anyway, steady."
Watch for: Rising arousal during imagery: pause, breathe, resume with a smaller step. In Lake's account a client described weeding his path and replanting hanging baskets vividly enough to experience it in imagination; vividness is the aim.

B5. Pros-and-cons and future imagery for decisions

Purpose / when: When the client is stuck on a decision; relaxation gives distance from rumination so options can be weighed. [source: Okhai 2003]
Steps: (1) Induce relaxation. (2) Invite the client to imagine each option in turn and notice how it feels. (3) Invite open, creative thinking about the future. (4) Re-alert and discuss what they noticed.
Example language (illustrative): "Imagine for a moment going back to the old job... notice what that's like... and now imagine a different path."
Watch for: A clear felt preference emerging; if none does, do not push for a decision in the session.

C1. Normalising and reframing anxiety

Purpose / when: Early, with anxious clients (including children), to take the fear out of the symptoms. [source: Lake 2019; HGI, What's different]
Steps: (1) Describe the anxiety as a normal human alarm response to a stressful period, not a sign that something is wrong with the person. (2) Explain fight-or-flight with a vivid image (Lake used a lion appearing at the window) or a familiar comparison (the body's state when about to run a race). (3) Link to APET: the alarm is set off by a pattern match before thinking starts. (4) Connect to the plan (breathing, graded steps).
Example language (illustrative): "If a lion came through that window, your heart would race and your legs would want to run. That's your body doing its job. The trouble is the alarm is going off when there's no lion."
Watch for: Relief and curiosity rather than defensiveness; a client who repeats the explanation in their own words.

C2. Explaining depression: rumination, sleep and dreaming

Purpose / when: Early with depressed clients; motivates them to stop rumination. [source: HGI, How to lift depression; HGI, What's different]
Steps: (1) Ask about rumination, sleep and morning exhaustion. (2) Explain the founders' model in plain words: worrying introspection raises arousal; unresolved arousal is discharged in dreaming; in depression dreaming is excessive and deep sleep reduced, so the person wakes exhausted and unmotivated, and ruminates more. Present this as the HG theory, not established fact. (3) Explain that depression is maintained by patterns of thought and action and can therefore change (Lake's "not the depression" explanation gave a client hope). (4) Agree to replace rumination with outward focus (D1, D2).
Example language (illustrative): "The more hours you spend going over things, the more your brain has to process at night, and that's part of why you wake up feeling drained. So one of the quickest ways to feel less tired is to cut down the going-over."
Watch for: The client recognising the cycle in their own life. Do not use this to advise on medication; liaise with the prescriber [synthesis]. The HGI article is critical of antidepressants; keep medication decisions with the prescriber.

C3. Working the APET entry points

Purpose / when: Choosing where to intervene for any presenting problem. [source: APET model]
Steps: (1) Map the sequence with the client: what sets it off (A), what it seems to be matching (P), the emotion (E), the thoughts that follow (T). (2) A: change the stimulus where possible (job, loneliness, a misread bodily sensation, explained so it no longer triggers alarm). (3) P: help the client see where a present situation is being matched to a past one and separate them (e.g. a new partner matched to a cruel former one). (4) E: calm arousal (B1, B2). (5) T: once calm, examine unhelpful beliefs and thinking.
Example language (illustrative): "It sounds as if part of you reacts to him as though he were your first partner. What's actually different about this man?"
Watch for: Client grasping the false link; reduced reactivity to the trigger in following weeks. Where the pattern is a trauma memory, use Rewind (E1) rather than talk alone.

C4. Reframing meaning

Purpose / when: To help clients see a situation in a new, more empowering way; a core HG skill. [source: HGI checklist; Okhai 2003; Lake 2019; How to lift depression]
Steps: (1) Identify the meaning that keeps the client stuck. (2) Offer an alternative meaning that fits the facts and their values (Okhai reframed forced medical retirement as a chance to choose a new career; Lake's client found that her drive to protect others had kept her going after abuse). (3) Offer it tentatively; let the client test it. (4) Reinforce in relaxation if useful.
Example language (illustrative): "You've been calling it the end of your career. I wonder if it's also the first time in twenty years you get to choose what comes next."
Watch for: A reframe the client rejects is not a failure; try another angle. A good reframe usually brings a visible shift in affect.

C5. Metaphor and storytelling

Purpose / when: To shift perspective by engaging pattern matching, so the client takes what is personally relevant. [source: APET model; HGI, What's different; Okhai 2003]
Steps: (1) Choose or construct a story whose structure parallels the client's situation and contains a way forward. (2) Tell it without explaining it. (3) Let the client draw their own conclusion. (4) Visual aids can help (Okhai used a pie chart to redistribute blame).
Example language (illustrative): "I once heard of a gardener who kept pulling up seedlings to check the roots were growing..."
Watch for: Engagement (laughter, "that's me"); confusion means the metaphor was too distant. The specific HG stories taught in training were not available. [uncertain]

C6. Pattern-breaking with humour

Purpose / when: In depression, to break black-and-white thinking and the trance of rumination. [source: HGI, How to lift depression]
Steps: (1) Once rapport is solid, respond to an all-or-nothing statement with gentle, warm humour or an unexpected angle. (2) Follow with a reframe (C4).
Example language (illustrative): "Everything's ruined? Even your taste in music?"
Watch for: Any sign of feeling mocked; repair immediately (see section 5). Avoid with acutely suicidal clients [synthesis].

C7. Scaling

Purpose / when: To make feelings measurable and track graded progress. [source: Lake 2019]
Steps: Ask the client to rate the feeling (Lake used the client's own label, a "running feeling") on a scale, then use the rating to set graded steps and notice change.
Example language (illustrative): "Out of ten, how strong was the running feeling at the school gate today? What would one point lower look like?"
Watch for: Ratings falling across repeated exposures.

D1. Setting tasks and focusing outward

Purpose / when: Every session; in depression especially, to replace introspection with outward activity. [source: HGI checklist; How to lift depression; Lake 2019]
Steps: (1) Break the problem into manageable chunks. (2) Agree specific tasks linked to unmet needs: exercise, re-engaging with enjoyable activities, helping others, sleep routine (Lake's client agreed to go to bed earlier), contact with people. (3) Keep each task small enough to succeed. (4) Review at the next session, affirming what was done rather than what was not.
Example language (illustrative): "What's one thing this week that would give you even a small sense of achievement? Let's make it small enough that you'll definitely do it."
Watch for: Completion and the client's report of mood on task days; non-completion is information (see section 5).

D2. Graded steps into avoided situations

Purpose / when: Anxiety and avoidance (e.g. school refusal); HG draws on graded exposure. [source: Lake 2019; Adams et al. 2022]
Steps: (1) Normalise (C1) and teach breathing (B1). (2) Agree a first step the client rates as manageable (Lake's 12-year-old agreed to attend school until morning break). (3) Ask the client to notice what happens. (4) Increase step by step, using scaling (C7). (5) Rehearse each step in imagery (B4). Get consent for each step; never force exposure [synthesis].
Example language (illustrative): "How about staying until break this week and just noticing what happens to the running feeling?"
Watch for: Ratings falling with repetition; if a step produces overwhelming distress, drop back a step.

D3. Practical needs-meeting interventions

Purpose / when: When an unmet need has a practical cause (isolation, debt, housing, unemployment, poor social skill). [source: Adams et al. 2022; HGI checklist]
Steps: (1) Name the need and its practical block. (2) Agree action: goal setting, debt or housing advice, job-finding, community activities, or social-skills training (rehearse conversations in session). (3) Signpost or refer to services where outside your remit. (4) Consider effects on family and others.
Example language (illustrative): "A lot of the worry seems to come back to the money. Would it help if we found you a debt adviser this week?"
Watch for: Rapid symptom relief once a concrete need is met; the HG view is that this is often more useful than a diagnostic focus (Lake 2019).

D4. Brief information-giving on request (advice)

Purpose / when: When the client needs or asks for advice. [source: HGI checklist]
Steps: Give clear, jargon-free information; keep it to what the client asked; prefer helping them generate options where time allows (Lake 2019).
Watch for: Advice rejected with "yes, but"; switch to eliciting the client's ideas.

E1. The Rewind technique (HG version)

Purpose / when: Detraumatisation for PTSD, single or multiple traumatic memories, phobias and trauma-linked anxiety, where a memory or trigger keeps firing a fear pattern. History as given by HGI: Bandler (NLP) developed a visual/kinaesthetic dissociation procedure; Muss developed and named the Rewind technique (1991); Griffin and Tyrrell refined it, adding the requirement for deep relaxation. [source: HGI, Rewind; Adams et al. 2022] It is described as graded, trauma-focused exposure that keeps arousal relatively low and does not require the client to describe the trauma in detail, which can help with shame-based traumas. [source: Adams & Allan 2019 abstract; Adams et al. 2022] Delivered by trained practitioners (HGI says an experienced practitioner).
Readiness criteria: The HG sources give no formal readiness criteria. [uncertain] Use the following [synthesis]: the client is currently safe (no ongoing abuse or threat); rapport is established; the client can use 7/11 breathing and relaxation to lower arousal; no active psychosis, acute intoxication or current substance dependence that impairs participation; acute suicide risk assessed and managed; dissociative symptoms assessed (severe or frequent dissociation calls for stabilisation first or referral to a specialist trauma service); informed consent given after the procedure is explained.
Steps (structure per Adams et al. 2022, adapted from Griffin & Tyrrell 2001; HGI Rewind page):
1. Preparation and activation: explain the procedure. Check that the trauma pattern is emotionally live (HGI says the method cannot work if the client is emotionally cut off; the therapist reconnects them with the emotion). With the client, build an imagined "video": it starts with a good memory from before, runs through each trauma segment from just before the incident to after it ends (safe again), and ends with a recent good memory. Agree brief labels so detail need not be spoken.
2. Relaxation: induce deep relaxation (B2), including a relaxed or pleasant place. HGI regards this as essential so the procedure does not deepen the trauma pattern.
3. Double distancing exposure: the client imagines watching themselves watching the video on a screen, and runs it forward and back (with an imagined remote control) until they feel calm.
4. Single distancing and association: the client watches the video themselves forward and back until calm; then, in the association phase, quickly re-experiences the sensations in reverse from the end back to the beginning (safe point). HGI describes the runs as very fast, at the fastest speed that feels comfortable, repeated as many times as needed until the scenes evoke no emotion.
5. Rehearsal (optional): if the feared situation will recur (HGI examples: driving, using a lift), the client, still relaxed, imagines handling it calmly and confidently (B4).
6. Ending: re-orient to the present.
Dosing: One procedure per trauma or trigger; several traumas can be treated in one session (Adams et al. citing Guy & Guy 2009 and Murphy 2007); Lake allows a double-length session. A single session is often enough according to HGI; in practice-based studies Rewind sat within courses averaging 5 to 6.5 sessions. [source: HGI; Adams et al. 2022; Lake 2019]
Grounding and closure [synthesis beyond "re-orient"]: count the client out of relaxation; have them open their eyes, name things in the room, feel their feet; check SUDS-style distress for the memory and the client's state; ask them to think of the memory briefly to check it now feels distant; brief psychoeducation about possible dreams or mild after-effects; agree breathing practice and contact plan; do not let a client leave while still distressed.
Example language (illustrative): "Imagine you're sitting comfortably in a cinema, and you can float up to the projection room and watch yourself in the seat, watching the screen... Now let the film run, very fast, from the good memory at the start to the safe point at the end."
Watch for: The scenes losing emotional charge across runs (the end point). If arousal rises: slow down, return to double distancing, breathing and the safe place, then resume (HGI says the therapist can re-relax or reconnect the client as needed). If the client dissociates fully (HGI flags these clients as an exception without saying how they are handled [uncertain]): stop the procedure, ground the client in the present [synthesis], and treat stabilisation as the priority before any further attempt. Treat the memory as the client's experience; Rewind processes what the client already remembers and must never be used to search for or "recover" memories.

5. Handling problems

The HG sources say little about problem management explicitly. Items tagged [source] apply stated HG principles; everything else is [synthesis].

Client too aroused to engage (crying, panicking, agitated). Stop gathering information; lower arousal first with 7/11 breathing and brief relaxation, then resume. HG holds that reasoning is not available at high arousal. [source: APET model; HGI checklist] Shorten the session's agenda to one achievable goal. [synthesis]
Stuck in rumination or retelling the story. HG discourages dwelling on the past and emotionally arousing introspection. Acknowledge, summarise, then redirect to best hopes and resources (A4, A5); explain the rumination and sleep cycle (C2). [source: HGI checklist; How to lift depression] If the client needs to be heard more first, give it, then redirect. [synthesis]
No progress after a few sessions. Re-run the needs audit: an unmet need (often security, belonging or meaning) may be blocking change; check for an untreated trauma pattern (consider Rewind), alcohol or drug use, medical causes, ongoing stressors (an A in APET that cannot be talked away). [synthesis based on HG model] Review the goal: is it the client's? HG's brevity aim makes non-response after about six sessions a prompt to review and, if needed, refer. [synthesis; session figure from HGI]
Resistance / "yes, but" to advice or reframes. Stop advising; ask the client what they think would help; enter their reality and use their words. Offer a reframe tentatively or via metaphor rather than argument. [source: Lake 2019; APET model; synthesis for specifics]
Non-adherence to tasks. Affirm whatever was done; shrink the task; check it served a need the client cares about; rehearse it in imagery before the next attempt. [source: Okhai 2003 for affirming what was done; synthesis]
Ruptures (client feels rushed, dismissed or mocked, e.g. by humour or a quick reframe). Name it, apologise, return to rapport and reflection; slow the pace. HG's speed can feel like not being listened to. [synthesis]
Client feels worse after a session. HG aims for clients to leave every session feeling better [source: HGI checklist]. Review what was activated, ensure closure and grounding next time, and give a calming routine to use at home. [synthesis]
Overwhelm or dissociation during Rewind or relaxation. Pause; open eyes; ground (orient to room, feet on floor, name objects); 7/11 breathing; return to double distancing and the safe place only if the client is willing and calm. If dissociation is marked, stop processing and switch to stabilisation; consider specialist referral. [HGI: therapist can re-relax or reconnect clients; rest synthesis]
Client emotionally cut off from the trauma. HGI says Rewind cannot work unless the pattern is emotionally active; gently reconnect (brief recall of the trigger) before relaxation. [source: HGI, Rewind] Distinguish this from protective dissociation, which needs stabilisation, not activation. [synthesis]
Memories emerging that the client was unsure of. Do not interpret, confirm or explore them with imagery or trance; note them as the client's experience, contain and ground, and work only with what the client already reports. [synthesis, per guide rules]
Suicide risk. Assess using your service's standard risk practice at intake and whenever hopelessness rises; safety planning and lethal-means counselling (safe storage and removal) as standard; do not rely on relaxation or reframing for an acutely suicidal client; liaise with GP or crisis services. HG sources state depression can lead to suicide but give no HG-specific risk protocol. [source: How to lift depression for the statement; synthesis for procedure]
Medication questions. HGI material is critical of antidepressants; do not advise stopping or changing medication. Refer to the prescriber; Okhai's case shows tapering done with the GP. [source: How to lift depression; Okhai 2003; synthesis]
Contraindications to relaxation/trance and Rewind. Not specified [uncertain]; see B2 and E1 readiness lists [synthesis].
Client wants long-term exploratory therapy. HG is brief and forward-focused; say so at contracting and refer if that is what the client wants. [synthesis]
Professional caution about HG claims. HGI materials make strong claims for speed (e.g. depression lifted in a handful of sessions, trauma often resolved in one session) and the founders' dreaming and APET theories are their own models. Present them to clients as useful explanations, not settled science, and keep routine outcome measures (e.g. CORE-10, PHQ-9, GAD-7, IES-R as used in Adams et al.). [synthesis]

Training and registration. HG practitioners train through Human Givens College and can join the HGI register; Adams et al. note study therapists were on the HG register. Specific diploma requirements were not checked. [uncertain]

Sources

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