EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitising and Reprocessing)

Thank you for posting this. I would not have watched the Samantha Stein video had it not been for your post, since I am not a parent I'd assumed it wouldn't be relevant. However it covers so much more. 

Samantha and her family were offered EMDR therapy following a period of severe sensory trauma. I think it links well to one of todays other videos 'Sensory Trauma: The Daily Experience of Fear'. https://www.autismwellbeing.org.uk/sensory-trauma

I have been interested in EMDR for a while but I am not sure how easy it is to access on the NHS. The website of my local IAPT service suggests that it is available for people suffering from PTSD. I have read elsewhere that it can also be effective for anxiety, panic and phobias.

I am now understanding more that the trauma I have experienced as an autistic person living in a world not designed for me is very real. It may not be recognised as trauma by others or given a formal PTSD diagnosis, but that does not mean it should not be treated as such. 

Some quotes from web page I have linked to above:

The events experienced by autistic people as painful, distressing or life threatening may not necessarily be the extreme events typically associated with trauma.

An event that causes an autistic person to experience sensory trauma may be construed as harmless or inconsequential be a non autistic person in the same environment.

When an autistic person experiences the pain and distress of sensory trauma their response is directly proportionate to their experience.

I note that the NHS website actually says "Any situation that a person finds traumatic can cause PTSD."

I'd be interested to hear of other experiences with accessing and receiving EMDR therapy, especially without a PTSD diagnosis.

Yes, I'm really getting quite a lot out of today's lineup.  And I home in on anything related to trauma in conferences and webinars like this one.

I did get a couple of sessions of EMDR via our local IAPT (Improving Access to Psychological Therapies) service a few years ago, but I was then abruptly discharged because, as they said, my "depression" was exogenous and related to what was going on in my life.  A bit puzzling, I thought, as I felt sure that many of their patients would find themselves in the same boat and then have nowhere to turn.  But the service might have changed since then.  

I didn't have a PTSD diagnosis but, after reading around the subject, I think I might have cPTSD (complex post-traumatic stress disorder) and it might be worth me getting a couple more sessions privately.  I did notice that the 2 sessions I had did seem to take the sting out of some of my past experiences.  The memories were exactly the same but somehow my feelings about them were different and much less intense.  Plus I was very interested when, in passing Evaleen Whelton (of Ausome Training) said that she thought it was a bit like stimming, which of course can be helpful in dissipating strong feelings.   

Jenny Butterfly said:

The memories were exactly the same but somehow my feelings about them were different and much less intense. 

I observed similar effect after reviewing the same memory from the past multiple times, especially those traumatic ones from childhood

multiple times is often hundreds of times

after that many they become almost casual memories and i can talk about them normally with friends, or GP, or whoever asks ignoring warning, ''be sure you want to hear an answer before you ask me''

Jenny Butterfly said:

The memories were exactly the same but somehow my feelings about them were different and much less intense. 

I observed similar effect after reviewing the same memory from the past multiple times, especially those traumatic ones from childhood

multiple times is often hundreds of times

after that many they become almost casual memories and i can talk about them normally with friends, or GP, or whoever asks ignoring warning, ''be sure you want to hear an answer before you ask me''

Jenny Butterfly said:

as quickly as shifting my email folders!

I wish I could as well

my way was as traumatic as truma itself,  like doing something blindfolded, by trial and error

It sounds as though in your case desensitisation has worked in the more conventional sense of gradually eroding the emotional response to memories.  Hundreds of times also sounds quite horrible to go through though - I've done it myself and sometimes my mind just locks in on something and won't let go.  On some occasions it's continued long into the night too.  I do need to move more of such memories from the "distressing" to the "casual" category.  If only I were able to do this as quickly as shifting my email folders!  :)