SELF HARM RESOURCES
A site devoted to providing information and resources about self-harm.
*This site is not intended to provide medical, psychological or legal advice, but simply to provide links to resources for coping with self-harm issues.
Self Soothing
Self Soothing draws upon the 5 senses and can be a helpful way for people to begin to learn or re-learn how to care for and be gentle with themselves. For many people who struggle with self-harm, they don't know how or allow themselves to take the time to do things for themselves that bring them comfort, relaxation, or pleasure. Understandably, this can be a very hard skill for some people who may struggle with negative beliefs about themselves saying they don't deserve comfort or care. But, as hard as it may be, self-soothing is a really important coping skill.
This skill is not always very helpful in the moments that you are triggered to harm yourself, HOWEVER it can help a lot when worked into your everyday life. Ideally, someone in recovery would practice some form of self-soothing multiple times a week. Depending how hard this is for you, you may need to start small, trying to do one or two soothing activities per week. That's okay. Approach this at your own pace.
These are skills you have to choose to do yourself. They aren't any help if someone else tells you to do them, because it has to something you initiate. For self-soothing to be a useful recovery skill, you have to keep telling yourself: I deserve comfort and care. I deserve this special little time for myself. I am worthy of these little acts of kindness towards myself. And I choose to do this for myself today.
A few self-soothing activities:
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sitting in a forest, looking out the window, carrying a pretty stone in your pocket.
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listening to calming nature sounds, listening to a beautiful song, listening to laughter
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lighting a candle, using body lotion, lighting incense
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eating a mint, sipping tea, savoring a small chocolate
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wrapping yourself in a soft blanket, lying in warm sunlight, getting a massage
So what is self-soothing?
http://blog.southeastpsych.com/2013/10/03/self-soothing-to-manage-stress/ a quick and basic article.
http://www.dbtselfhelp.com/html/self-sooth.html - a more in-depth look at
http://www.truerecovery.org/learning-center/dbt-dialectical-behavior-therapy/115-section-8-self-soothing-with-five-senses (has interactive elements and describes how you might begin to use self-soothing in your life.)
Image from: positivedoodles.tumblr.com