The ObservatoryHow to see through bad self-help
The market is full of promises that don't hold. Seven warning flags, and three signs that something is worth your time.
Self-help is a billion-dollar industry with enthusiasm as its main raw material and almost no quality control. That doesn't mean everything is junk. It means YOU are the quality control. Here is what to look for.
Flag one: promises without reservations. Transform your life in 30 days, works for everyone, guaranteed results. Real methods have moderate effects, work for many but not all, and require effort. Someone who knows that does not write "guaranteed". Flag two: a secret THEY don't want you to know. Effective methods are published, peer-reviewed and free to read about. The secret is a sales technique, not a discovery.
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Why does it work?
The warning flags summarize established consumer guidance from clinical psychology's review of the self-help market, including Norcross and colleagues' work on evaluating the evidence behind self-help materials and research on the features of pseudoscience (Lilienfeld). The claim that guided self-help has moderate effects follows Cuijpers et al. 2010.
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