AIBU: Challenges of EDMR on NHS (trauma, sea, but no details)

I had it on NhS...it was amazing. I need more but no longer available on ngs in my area.

This is how I explain trauma;

When something bad happens, a part of our mind gets the job of working out
why it happened so we can work out how to avoid a similar event in the future. However, when we suffer a traumatic event in our lives there isn’t always an answer to that question. Trauma events can be so random that there is no way we could have predicted it and therefore no way we could have avoided it.

The need to make some sort of sense of the experience can often lock us into that moment. A part of our subconscious becomes unable to move on until we can fully understand it and put it to rest in our minds. It becomes like a jigsaw puzzle with some vital pieces missing.

This is very similar to the model that's used by EMDR. The difference is that I work directly with that part of the subconscious to let it know that there will never be an answer and therefore the only option is to stop looking for one. You don't forget what happened by the emotional link is broken.

I don’t believe there is a placebo effect - it works because an authority figure says it will work. There are some of us that have tried multiple other interventions that have not worked. Trauma blocks processing. You can have all the talk therapy and drugs but still not process the traumatic event or multiple events.

EMDR is different. It is hard to explain. Recalling a traumatic event is not so much about your feelings now but reliving the event - the sights, sounds, smells - and then reprocessing - I watch a dot going left to right for a while. Then my therapist will ask where I’m at now. Then go with that. Then watch the dot etc.
multiple iterations that leave me in a different place. Because I finally realise that an event happened in the past and I am no longer hijacked by unprocessed overwhelming physical responses.

BTW she works for the NHS but also does private therapy funded by the NHS.

I have read a bit about EDMR and what I read reminded me of a hypnotherapy session I had for a phobia (triggered by a traumatic event). My hypnotherapist has a neuroscience background. I had great success with the hypnotherapist. It makes me think there is a lot we don't fully understand about the brain.

A work colleague had EDMR on NHS for a very traumatic event and he said it was a game changer. I agree it should be easily accessible on NHS but I guess so should a lot of things. I suffer with chronic pain and asked my GP for an acupuncture referral. She told me I couldn't get a referral for that on NHS. I sent her some links showing that you can and she then said - well you don't meet criteria. Over a year later I have an NHS referral for acupuncture I got through a different pathway. I have paid for it privately which is why I know it works for me but I worry about the qualifications of private practitioners which is why I prefer NHS.

It is available but it’s effectiveness is specific to one particular area, the person I know who raves about it had a road traffic collision, no her fault, hers was paid for by insurance a few months later once physical injuries had healed. As its self contained cost wise, it’s the sort of thing many will choose to fund over waiting, it’s the ongoing type of therapy that is so expensive

I was obviously very lucky then. ( or the NHS was in better shape 13 years ago). I used to a be a Detective working in child protection. When my DD was born I began having really disturbing nightly dreams that I’d smothered her in the bed. ( we did not co sleep ). After 9 months I went to the GP and although they were very sceptical that I would be eligible for any support referred me to the local mental health services. I actually fell below the required level to receive help but because of my job they offered me 6 sessions of EMDR. Absolutely wonderful stuff - so great of them. Totally resolved my issues and somewhere I still have the discharge letter from the therapist which was also lovely.

Yep. I’ve had EMDR on the nhs. It’s available through IAPT and secondary care (community mental health teams for more serious mental illness).

You’re right. Not just EMDR but many types of therapies should be more available on the NHS. I have cPTSD, GAD and Panic Disorder. I was offered 6 sessions of counselling and on another occasion 6 sessions of CBT. That was the only support that was available in my area. It was a drop in the ocean in comparison to what I needed.

Eventually once I was in a position to pay for it myself I had a mixture of different therapies (including EMDR) weekly for three years. It changed my life and I consider myself largely recovered now.

Sympathies BTW Donna - your traumatic event sounds horrible.

There are many studies showing that it works, but not actually why it works. So yes, believing it's going to work, and you trust it because the NHS has authorised it, it will work. Which is really all that matters to the person who is in distress.

It's really not that different from when someone post on MN asking if anyone wants a tarot reading and dozens of people pile on wanting to know what's going to happen in their future. No one posts to say their prediction didn't come true.

Bottom line, it works.

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6106867/

Thanks for that Donna. I've spent so much money on CBT/hypnosis/talking therapies and am not much further on. I'll
definitely go back and check out EMDR again

It is NICE recommended for PTSD, however there are relatively few people trained in it, and those who are can make way way more working privately than working for the NHS.

I personally know an NHS therapist who really wants to train to deliver EMDR and believes it would be really good for her client group, but the Trust won't fund her until she's trained in a different type of therapy first - a type that isn't indicated for the client group she works with.

It's pretty readily available although there is usually a wait -around 3 months where I am based. I can offer up to 20 sessions which is enough for most people.

It works because you believe it's going to work, like most things.

There's an interesting video by Neuro Transmissions on Youtube which goes into the history of the treatment and it's founder.

I think our nhs is so overwhelmed firefighting emergencies (which they generally do well) that there is no capacity for individualised preventative healthcare.

My team is semi preventative, in that we try to prevent/reduce chance of children from needing complex, painful surgeries by intervening early, whilst also trying to maximise their mobility. One member of our team costs the nhs around 40-50k. One surgery for one child costs more than that, but still they cut our budget.

I got a high level of support for my MH challenges and didn't need to take any sick leave and am now thriving, DH has has minimal and has taken chunks of sick leave and is slowly drowning, I'm just so sad and frustrates that he can't get the great support I got.

I'd like that for my PTSD but it wasn't offered. I was only offered trauma therapy but then they said it would be dangerous for me as it could be too traumatic so they couldn't let me do it?!
I can't afford anything really so I guess I might have to try some kind of charity.

Could I hijack very briefly Donna? Just because there's a few here who seem to have had success with EMDR. Would it work on someone like me who had traumatic incident decades ago - horrific crowd crush decades ago - that triggered claustrophobia/mega anxiety? Heard mixed things...

I agree with you OP. It’s simple economics. Help prevent and treat longer term issues will maximise productive capacity for people being able to function etc. sadly our nhs don’t seem to favour preventative, proactive approaches.

I am currently receiving EMDR on the NHS. Wait time was around 5 months and a therapist related to my GP kept in regular contact during the wait. There is some childhood trauma that was selected for one event but the rest of the sessions relate to an abusive relationship of 30 years. I finally contacted my GP as I was really struggling to cope with post separation abuse during the divorce. I had to complete questionnaires that diagnosed anxiety, moderately severe depression and PTSD.

The sessions focus on particular events during that time of which I have a clear and overwhelming memory but are thematically related to other multiple events. I have had talking therapy in the past that leaves you stuck in overwhelm when the session ends. EMDR is different. The initial panic and overwhelm is horrible but dramatically reduces during the session so that you are not reliving and taken over by automatic bodily reactions but are remembering an event in the past. My therapist said last week that this happened in the past but trauma makes it feel as if it is happening now. I have found the sessions challenging but cathartic and liberating as effectively clearing the ‘block’ makes it easier to cope with current stresses.

I had EMDR on the NHS. It is good when you are struggling with one to five isolated traumatic events as it takes a lot of time and effort per event. It is useless if your PTSD stems from hundreds to thousands of events- for that theme based flash therapy and CBT on survival habits/beliefs caused by decades of repeated trauma has more success.

The not having to talk too much also makes it unusually accessible to autistic people. Standard evidence based talking therapy can be a very poor fit for someone with expressive communication difficulties.