When you self-soothe, you are behaving in a comforting, nurturing, kind, and gentle way to yourself.  It is important to engage in self-soothing skills in moments of distress or agitation so as to alleviate difficult and overwhelming feelings.  I often work with my clients to create self-soothing plans and encourage them to utilize their 5 senses:  touch, taste, hearing, smell, and sight to create their plans.  I ask them to think about things that could soothe them using each sense.  For example, a client may identify stroking their pet as a soothing activity using their sense of touch; and smelling lavender as a soothing activity using their sense of smell.  Clients are asked to list a few activities under each sense and add to that list as they please.  They are encouraged to engage in their self-soothing activities when they experience feelings like stress, sadness, worry, or anger.  From my experience,  clients find their plans to be very helpful.  If you would like to create a self-soothing plan for yourself and have questions, feel free to send me an email at sonali@sonalizoracki.com for more information.