A guide for self-help guides: best practice implementation

Summary & key facts

This article defines the role and skills needed for a “guide” who helps people use self-help materials for mental health. It explains practical parts of the job, such as keeping people engaged, personalising the work, structuring sessions, using outcome measures, and getting supervision. The paper also warns about “self-help drift” and says guides must know how to spot mental health problems, handle risk, and work with other conditions. The authors call for more recognition of the guide role in mental health services.

Key facts:

• Guided self-help is described as an evidence-based intervention used around the world.
• Self-help is framed as a key part of the stepped care model, which aims to make mental health services use resources more efficiently.
• The article defines the guide as the person who facilitates and supports a client’s use of self-help materials.
• The paper lists practical guide tasks: motivating engagement, personalising the intervention, structuring sessions, using routine outcome monitoring, and meeting supervision needs.
• Key competences proposed include generic skills for building the therapeutic relationship and specific skills like clearly explaining the guide’s role to clients.
• The authors introduce the term “self-help drift,” meaning guides can drift away from best practice in a way similar to therapist drift in traditional therapy.
• The article states that guides need skills to identify mental health problems, use supervision, and manage clinical risk and comorbidity.
• The paper concludes by calling for increased recognition and value of the guide role within mental health services.

Abstract

Guided self-help is an evidence-based intervention used globally. Self-help is a fundamental part of the stepped care model of mental health services that enables the efficient use of limited resources. Despite its importance, there is little information defining the role of the guide and the key competences required. In this context, the guide is defined as the person who facilitates and supports the use self-help materials. This article sets out the role of the guide in guided self-help. It considers practical issues such as the importance of engagement to motivate clients for early change, personalising the intervention, structuring sessions, how best to use routine outcome monitoring and supervision requirements. Key competences are proposed, including generic competences to build the relationship as well as specific competences such as being able to clearly convey the role of the guide to clients. Guides should be prepared for "self-help drift", a concept akin to therapist drift in more traditional therapies. Knowing how to identify mental health problems, use supervision and manage risk and comorbidity are all key requirements for guides. The paper concludes by calling for increased recognition and value of the role of the guide within mental health services.

Topics

Digital Mental Health Interventions Mental Health and Patient Involvement Mental Health Treatment and Access

Categories

Applied Psychology Psychology Social Sciences

Tags

Computer science Medical education Medicine Psychology

Conditions & symptoms

Anxiety Depression Anxiety or worry Lack of energy or motivation Sadness or low mood