Healing and Hypnotherapy Volume 4 Issue - 4, 1 October 2019 | Page 10

7 Self-Soothing Techniques to
Relieve Anxiety and PTSD
How do you cope when shit hits the fan?
Anxiety is a reality we all need to deal with sooner or later. And how you
support yourself through it makes all the difference in the world.
If you struggle to calm down, suffer from unresolved trauma, or have a highly
charged and wound-up nervous system this article will give you a few helpful
ideas for learning how to self-soothe.
Please note: issues such as PTSD are complex psychological matters that
can’t be solved simply by self-soothing. Self-soothing is a complementary
technique that you can use to ‘keep yourself together’ but it won’t get to the
root of the issue. Please research the term ‘somatic experiencing’ or ‘EMDR’
if you would like to get to the root of releasing trauma.
What is Self-Soothing?
Self-soothing is an emotional, physical, psychological, and biological
developmental task every child must learn to develop growing up. Put simply,
self-soothing is the ability to calm ourselves down after experiencing
something stressful.
There’s a lot of controversy surrounding when the appropriate time for a child
to self-soothe happens – but ultimately, at some point during our early pre-
teen years, self-soothing needs to occur.
Who is Responsible For Teaching Us How to Self-Soothe?
There are differing opinions. Some childhood experts and parents believe that
self-soothing needs to happen as a baby (e.g. the infant learns to calm
themselves down in their cot). Other experts and parents believe that self-
soothing is impossible for a baby to develop and must instead be modelled by
the parents.
In any case, if you experienced early childhood trauma, neglectful or
emotionally absent parents, a chronically mentally or emotionally abusive
environment, or an overall dysfunctional family, you may have been
prevented from learning how to self-soothe.
12 Signs You Need to Learn Self-Soothing
Here are some signs to look out for: