There was a time when I thought that coaching and self-help books were at best a waste of time and at worst trading on people’s distress without making a difference, but then I was trained to guide people through self-help materials as part of my NHS work. I found from people’s feedback that in fact self-help materials can be incredibly helpful for mild to moderate problems, and I experienced it too, trying out the materials myself as part of my training.
If you think that guided self-help is a good option for you I’d suggest we have a full consultation and then you can take some time to look at some materials and decide which you’d like to work through. This work is often done in 30-minute telephone sessions which can be a more economical option.
To have a look at the many well researched and practical books out there you can visit the Reading Well scheme
Books for common mental health conditions
It’s an excellent list of books (although if you are suffering from chronic fatigue or pain you might object to seeing these listed under mental health conditions and I would agree with you that these are not mental health conditions, although they can adversely affect mental health).
If you would like to enquire about guided-self help, please contact me.
Now, throughout England, you can be supported with self-help materials in the NHS. However, unfortunately some services are quite inflexible about which materials they use and the number of sessions allowed (sadly leading to some having a negative experience with this method). Part of working with me is to first try and assess quite thoroughly what is going on for you so as to think about what materials may help. I’m always on the lookout too for “new technology”, apps etc. that could suit someone better than reading only. This powerful and emotional talk by David Burns, who wrote probably the first CBT self-help book, Feeling Good, The New Mood Therapy, explains how it all started, and also helps explain what CBT is ….