Although I do appreciate roses or dinner, if I'm in a funk sometimes things like that are actually counterproductive for me. The flowers show up and I think, "oh great, I'm so obviously depressing that I've worried Master into buying me things." I start to feel like I am being pitied, and actually withdraw further into myself in an effort to make him feel like he's helping.
I guess I am most like Amber. I can twist any gesture made to make me feel better into a form of pity and make myself feel even worse.

In truth, the greatest help he can provide is to have me do something for him - something, however small, that I can accomplish and that he can then hold me and tell me I've done a good job. I feel worth that way, not pity. If you want to take her out for dinner, great, but make it a task for her to look a certain way or do something for you and praise that. (We're subbies, when it's all about us that weirds us out a little! )
I live to be told I'm a "good girl". I can sabotage these tasks too, but earning that response from my Master makes me melt and simmer with pleasure.

One other thing that works for me, though I've never really heard it talked about on the forums in this capacity, is for J to take me as close to "sub space" as he can get me. It's not overtly sexual, he'll simply hold me and talk while running the flog up and down my back, alternating from strokng to actual flogging. Emotions like what your slave is going through run pretty deep and, in my case, focusing on Master's voice and on the pain of the flog etc. take me down to where I can find those emotions. We rarely ever have sex during a session like that, what ends up happening is all of the emotions that are buried in me come up, I have a really good cry and he holds me. I feel SO MUCH BETTER afterwards.
I have never had a r/l Master but I think what Amber describes here would work for me too.