Self-Soothing

Quiz for the online group

The Self Soothing skill is a set of strategies based on soothing yourself with your senses; hearing, smell, sight, taste and touch.

*This skill is all about doing things that make you feel good and that are comforting for you, so that you can get some relief from the intense emotions, pain or stress you might be feeling.

This skill is not intended to be a problem solving skill but it can help us to regulate our emotions so that we can find our wise mind and then problem solve, if needed.

If we can soothe ourselves then we can be less vulnerable to our emotional mind and be less likely to act impulsively, helping us to avoid crisis or adding any extra unnecessary emotional layers on to the situation.

*To soothe yourself is to be gentle and caring towards yourself, treating yourself with kindness like you would someone that you love.

The handout on page 334 gives many examples of ways to self-soothe.

Have you been using this skill since learning it in the first round?

Do you have any favorite ways to self sooth that you would like to share with the group?

Have you encountered any problems when it comes to self soothing?

Body Scan

We can also Self Sooth by focusing on the sensations in our body. If we can be mindful enough just to focus on the sensations we are feeling then we can disconnect from thoughts relating to the past or future and just be present in the moment. Sticking with the principles of mindfulness and being non judgmental of any feelings that come up, approaching them with curiosity can help us to understand more about how our body feels and how we feel about our bodies.

There are loads of body scans that you can find online but there is also a body scan worksheet on page 335.

Have you used a body scan to self sooth since learning the skill in the first round? Do you find it helpful?

Below is a short body scan that we can practice in the lesson.

Before watching rate how you feel on a scale of 1-100, after the body scan we will do the same.

Homework – Homework for this lesson is to make a Self Soothing diary for the week and practice at least one type of Self Soothing activity, so by the end of the week you would have practised one for each of the senses.

Homework sheets can be found on pages 382 – 384 of the DBT skills training handout and worksheets book to help you record your practice.

This is a free peer course with the option to donate £1 if you want to support the work I do. Your donations help to improve resources and help others access DBT https://ko-fi.com/positivelybpd

This is a free peer course with the option to donate £1 if you want to support the work I do. Your donations help to improve resources and help others access DBT https://ko-fi.com/positivelybpd