| Summary: | Objectives. There is a developing body of evidence that guided self-help can be effective in alleviating distress experienced from symptoms of depression and anxiety. However evidence is not consistently positive and clarification is required about how it achieves its effects. Furthermore, previous research into guided self-help has not investigated patients with milder depression or anxiety. Exploration of the therapy process in guided self-help has crucial importance in developing further understanding about its qualities and how it is experienced. This study aimed to explore the ways in which people experience guided self-help for depression or anxiety within primary care. Design. Qualitative research has been recommended to complement the quantitative work that has been published to date on guided self-help. The data used for analysis was gathered from semi-structured interviews. Method. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was used. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with seven participants who had accessed and completed guided self-help for either mild depression or anxiety. The verbatim transcripts of those interviews served as the data for analysis. Results. Four themes emerged which are described under the broad headings: participants’ intention to feel better, development of understanding and awareness, change: from dependency to independence, and relating to others. Conclusions. Participants experienced a positive outcome of using guided self-help, which included increased knowledge about their thoughts and feelings, and increased self-efficacy in managing their own mental health. These findings shed light on how the patients’ positive outcomes are related to the change process. Findings also suggest that self-determined motivation may impact upon accessibility to guided self-help in addition to patients’ attitudes and expectations.
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