Self Help tools to help you help yourself.

Self help tools can be helpful for people experiencing a variety of mental health challenges however they are not a replacement for seeing a therapist. Psychological issues can be complex and deeply ingrained in years of development and a good mental health professional provides insight, evidence based methods and personalized guidance for each unique situation which self help tools cannot provide. Despite this, seeing a therapist and engaging in self help does not have to be mutually exclusive. Self help can be a great way to make the most of your time with a professional, work on mild or less deep rooted issues, put skills or concepts learned in therapy into practice as well as maintain and continue to develop skills after you may have decided to stop seeing a mental health professional.

There is a spectrum of which one can involve a mental health professional in their self help experience. Self administered therapy involves no contact with a therapist, predominantly self-help involves less than an hour and a half of time with therapist and minimal contact therapy features active involvement with a therapist but less than traditional therapy. Self administered self help tools are best for mild mental health symptoms or cultivating skills that can improve mental health without the help of a professional. This can include engaging in gratitude journaling, or other kinds of therapeutic writing, learning to meditate, learning about the theory behind CBT, optimizing sleep hygiene, making an effort to get more sunlight exposure and learning to or engaging in exercise. Involving a mental health professional or paraprofessional in self help is broadly known as guided self help encompassing predominantly self help and minimal contact therapy, this approach is best for mild to moderate symptoms. This could involve spending a portion of your meeting with a therapist talking about an issue and working on self help resources that you are interested in or offered by your therapist outside of therapy. This could also involve seeing a therapist weekly or biweekly in order to establish a therapeutic relationship and later scheduling every few weeks to discuss self help habits while engaging in interventions between sessions.