True Recovery

Experiment a bit. Think about some things that you find physically enjoyable for each of your five senses. Think about what you could do if you had a few hours or a few days in the midst of a crisis. Identify things you can do or keep with you to use in the middle of a confrontation or heated argument. Prepare yourself to use them. For those longer time frame things, jot them down on that note card or printed cheat sheet and keep them handy. When things feel too hot to handle, pull out the cheat sheet and start taking care of yourself. Maybe even prepare a self-soothing kit, with a picture of the sunset, a small loaded mp3 player, a vial of perfume, some mints, a swatch of silk that you can reach for in a pinch, wherever you are.

Exercise

Fill in the boxes above, or jot down three things that you think would be soothing for you, and prioritize them like we did in the previous section on ACCEPTS.

Practice Assignment

Create a self-soothing kit.  It could be as simple as a small swatch of soothing fabric you keep in your pocket, or it could be a bit more involved.  Whatever you decide, try to keep at least one comforting item with you at all times, and reach for it if you need to give yourself a little TLC.

Add these skills to your journal entries each night.  If the Journal is overwhelming or feeling like a chore, go to once or twice a week.  Keep it simple and quick, your goal should be to just keep track of your moods and the skills you've been able to use.

As a useful reference, you may wish to check out the Crisis Survival Cheat Sheet.

When you're ready to move on go to: Section 9 - Improve the Moment.

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