Self sensing techniques allow using a piezoelectric transducer simultaneously as an actuator and as a sensor, as they reconstruct its mechanical sensory information by measuring its electrical quantities, i.e. voltage and charge. In vibration control applications piezoelectric self sensing actuators are highly desirable as they allow precise collocated control. Past research work was mainly based on the linear behavior of piezoelectric materials, thus restricting the operating driving voltages to low values. This work addresses the problem of using a self sensing piezoelectric actuator at its full driving voltage range. A new self sensing technique is proposed, which is based on the hysteretic modeling and identification of the piezoelectric transducer capacitance. After providing a sound presentation on piezoelectricity and vibrating structures, the most common self sensing techniques are discussed and the new self sensing technique is introduced and compared to typical linear methods both theoretically and experimentally.