Coping With the Five Senses
Distress tolerance is about using mindfulness skills to cope with distressing emotions. The five senses mindfulness exercise can also be used as a distress tolerance skill. In that case, in addition to being aware of what goes into each sense, the client may also have specific stimuli to self-soothe with each sense.
Maria identified the sunset for sight, her favorite songs for hearing, coffee for both smell and taste, and taking long, hot showers for touch. Now that she’s learned to engage in those activities mindfully, she can also use them as coping strategies throughout the day.