Whether you are suffering from anorexia, bulimia, EDNOS or binge eating disorder, there are many different ways you can help gain and maintain good recovery. Key therapies, such as cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) and dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), teach sufferers valuable recovery tools and skills. One practical skill involves the ability to self soothe, which forms part of distress tolerance skills in DBT.
Self Soothing for Eating Disorder Recovery
As learning to eat normally through following a menu plan is typically a crucial aspect of recovery from eating disorders, such as anorexia, being able to self soothe whilst facing one's fears is very helpful. You can make up your very own self soothing list, or look at suggestions at DBT online resources, including DBT Self Help.com. The key is to find activities which impact upon your senses, such as smell, taste, vision, hearing and touch. Examples of self soothing activites relating to smell, may include as follows: baking, aromatherapy bubble bath, burning incense, diffusers, getting out in the garden and smelling the flowers or freshly cut grass. Taste related self soothing activites, may involve chewing strongly flavoured gum or mindfully eating a piece of fresh fruit. Touch self soothing activities may be as simple as having a stress ball in yoru pocket or a small cuddly toy to squeeze in your handbag.
Visual and hearing self soothing ideas may involve getting back to nature and listening to the birds or the waves crashing on the beach. Listening to relaxation CDs or watching nature programs can also prove to be very beneficial, providing a valuable approach to learning to tolerate distress.
How Self Soothing Helps Eating Disorder Sufferers
Due to the fact that most people affected by eating disorders struggle to cope with difficult or painful emotions, the ability to self soothe can make a significant difference in achieving and maintaining recovery. When a person focuses on one of their senses it helps to distract from uncomfortable or triggering thoughts and feelings. Learning to self soothe provides a valuable alternative to engaging in self harm behaviours. As part of your eating disorder recovery tool box, it is well worthing having a brainstorm and creating your very own self soothing list. Alternatively, simply head to DBT Self Help.com or check out the Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook by McKay et al. for further suggestions on how to cope with stressful emotions through self soothing skills.
Kate Le Page - Kate Henning-Le Page writes about eating disorders, body image and recovery issues. She specializes in anorexia recovery.
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