Just like our physical health, our mental health changes over time. Events such as losing someone we love, stress at work, money worries, or other challenges can all have a big effect on how we feel.
Your mental health is important, but we often ignore it when things aren’t going well. We all have times when life feels harder than usual, and it can be challenging to talk about this or know where to turn for help.
Asking for support can make a big difference to how you feel and is a positive step towards feeling better. It’s normal to feel unsure about where to start, but you don’t have to do it alone. Here at Guernsey Mind, we’re here to help.
You might want to seek support if you’re:
- Worrying more than usual
- Finding it hard to enjoy life
- Having thoughts and feelings that are difficult to cope with, which affect your day-to-day life
- Interested in finding out more about support or treatment available
Supported self-help
Guernsey Mind offers a free service called Supported self-help. It’s designed to offer support for managing feelings like stress, anxiety, or low mood and gives you tools and guidance to help improve your mental wellbeing.
What is Supported self-help?
Supported self-help is a one-to-one programme delivered by a fully trained practitioner who will guide you through practical exercises and resources. These can help you understand your feelings and find ways to manage them. The programme is delivered over six sessions, but you might not need them all.
This is not counselling, but it does include helpful techniques incorporating some Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) tools. You don’t need a GP referral – just contact us directly.
People who have accessed Supported Self Help through Guernsey Mind have reported very positive results.
(Statistics from October 2024-October 2025)
94%
reduction in feelings of anxiety
88.8%
reduction in feelings of depression
85.7%
had an improvement in mental wellbeing
How does it work?
You’ll start with an initial meeting at Guernsey Mind with one of our practitioners where we’ll talk about what has been happening and assess your needs. If Supported self-help is right for you, you will work with your practitioner to agree on a plan together and discuss the workbooks we have available.
There are eight different workbooks that you can choose from. Each workbook is clearly presented with a number of tools, tips and techniques which you can use on a daily basis to help you manage.
We have the following workbooks available:
- Anxiety and panic attacks
- Coping with grief and loss
- Loneliness
- Low self-esteem
- Understanding low mood
- Managing anger
- Managing stress
- Understanding menopause
You will meet with your practitioner for up to 5 further sessions – either face-to-face, by phone, or online and go through the actions in your workbook.
As well as checking-in to see how you’re getting on, your practitioner might suggest some additional helpful materials such as: tips for understanding emotions, a thoughts diary and mindfulness techniques
At the end, you will review your progress together and talk about what’s next.
I have received the help needed to improve my wellbeing and tools to keep working at reducing my anxiety and stress.
Our Supported Self Help practitioners Chris, Helen and Ariane
Who is it for?
Supported Self Help is for anyone over the age of 18 who feels their emotions are getting on top of them and wants to learn new ways to manage their mental health. There is no upper age limit – we have had people in their 80s using the programme.
Note: If you are already receiving specialist mental health support please complete your treatment first before contacting us.
If in doubt, contact us and we can talk it through.
The safe, understanding environment allows you to open up and work out together what the problems are and the tools to help you resolve them.
Find out more about Supported Self Help
I’m not sure if Supported self-help is right for me?
Supported self-help is for those experiencing mild to moderate worries and concerns. Along with Supported self-help, we can also help to find you other support, whether that’s another local service, your GP, or accessing some other groups in the Bailiwick. If in doubt, contact us and we can talk it through.
I’m a bit worried about sharing information. Is this secure?
Yes. Everything you share is confidential and handled according to our privacy policy.
Can anyone access Supported self-help?
The service is available to anyone aged 18 and over. No referral is needed – just get in touch using the details below.
How much does it cost?
Supported self-help is free. If you’d like to make a donation, it will help us support more people in the Bailiwick. Please contact us or visit our website to find out more.
What is the difference between Supported Self Help and therapy?
Supported Self Help:
- The programme will help you learn skills to cope with how you feel today and ways you can cope in situations in the future.
- Although previous history may be touched upon in sessions, we will not go too deeply into any past experiences or trauma.
- Supported Self Help can provide different techniques and coping mechanisms to handle your current situation.
- The programme is suitable for mild to moderate mental health support.
- You will need to be motivated to complete all of your sessions and be actively trying to make changes and considerations to improve your mental health.
Therapy:
- Therapy gives more time to discuss and process past experience and the feelings/emotions linked to this.
- Therapeutic support is a long-term process to focus on deeper mental health
- Any level of mental health can have therapy.
Your practitioner will discuss the options with you at your initial assessment if they feel Supported Self Help is not for you at this time. They will do this by working with you to assess the severity of your issue and consider your goals and resources.
Supported Self Help involves working independently with different resources under the guidance of a practitioner whereas therapy is a collaborative process with a therapist to tackle severe mental health conditions.
What do I do next?
Call us on 01481 722959, or email: info@guernseymind.org.gg
You can also request an appointment using this online form
Supported Self Help helped me realise that I was putting everyone else first and forgetting about myself. I now feel as though I can do what’s right for me and can finally flourish the way I know I deserve to.