Gentle touch making worries subside, initially (6)
I believe the answer is:
caress
'gentle touch' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'worries subside initially' is the wordplay.
'worries' becomes 'cares' (I've seen this before).
'initially' says to take the initial letters.
The initial letter of 'subside' is 's'.
'cares'+'s'='CARESS'
'making' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for caress that I've seen before include "Scares with loving gesture" , "Stroke lovingly" , "pet" , "pet[s]" , "Expression of affection" .)