How to Use self-help in a Sentence

self-help

noun
  • On some level, this is a self-help book about midlife crises.
    The New Yorker, New Yorker, 28 Jan. 2026
  • Think self-care to self-help to self-esteem to self-worth.
    Colin Bedell, Them., 17 Sep. 2025
  • Instead, people read it like a self-help book.
    Jennifer Wilson, New Yorker, 28 Sep. 2025
  • Someone who reads self-help books that teach him how to be a better man.
    Kevin Grasha, The Enquirer, 2 July 2025
  • That was the self-help retreat talking.
    Danielle Paquette The Washington Post, Arkansas Online, 12 Apr. 2026
  • But way before there were self-help books about it, my mom always followed her heart.
    Emily Krauser, Peoplemag, 27 May 2024
  • When the fight is this lopsided, all the self-help books in the world won’t show us how to win it.
    Globe Columnist, BostonGlobe.com, 25 Mar. 2023
  • The self-help high fades fast when no one around you believes bigger is possible.
    Jodie Cook, Forbes.com, 11 June 2025
  • A lot of those schools evolved from self-help cults in the 1970s, like Synanon.
    Mathew Rodriguez, Them., 23 Sep. 2025
  • There's a ton of business books out there and then there's a ton of, for lack of a better word, self-help books.
    Jackie Fields, Peoplemag, 15 Nov. 2023
  • Lenz’s impulse to generalize is so strong that at times her work whiffs of self-help.
    Lily Meyer, The Atlantic, 28 Feb. 2024
  • Changing oneself is harder than perky how-to guides and self-help books suggest.
    Chelsea Leu, The Atlantic, 1 Jan. 2024
  • What remains is a tool of self-discipline, disguised as self-help.
    Jay Caspian Kang, New Yorker, 10 Feb. 2026
  • This is just an incredible self-help tool to have at your fingertips.
    Svetlana Khachiyan, USA TODAY, 17 Aug. 2024
  • In some ways, the pursuit of self-help has been that unfortunate journey.
    Lily Moayeri, SPIN, 19 Aug. 2024
  • The self-help sports book pops up throughout the season, becoming one of its best running jokes.
    Shannon Carlin, Time, 22 June 2023
  • That often shows up in piles of cookbooks, self-help manuals, and fitness gear.
    Kathy Barnes, Better Homes & Gardens, 24 Oct. 2025
  • The self-help expert’s guide to building good habits and breaking bad ones via tiny changes in behavior.
    The California Independent Booksellers Alliance, Los Angeles Times, 5 Feb. 2025
  • The self-help expert’s guide to building good habits and breaking bad ones via tiny changes in behavior.
    The California Independent Booksellers Alliance, Los Angeles Times, 26 June 2024
  • The self-help expert’s guide to building good habits and breaking bad ones via tiny changes in behavior.
    The California Independent Booksellers Alliance, Los Angeles Times, 20 Mar. 2024
  • It’s even made its way into pop psychology self-help spaces.
    Athena Aktipis, The Conversation, 10 Oct. 2025
  • If the self-help cant of the title seems to glitch or stutter, the book’s contents shimmer with the same strangeness.
    Katy Waldman, New Yorker, 18 Aug. 2025
  • That pattern mirrors a broader critique of self-help culture.
    Cheryl Robinson, Forbes.com, 26 May 2026
  • There can be downsides to relying on the technique as a self-help strategy.
    Khloe Quill, FOXNews.com, 2 Aug. 2025
  • In one study, a chatbot outperformed a self-help book in boosting mental health after just two weeks.
    Pooja Shree Chettiar, The Conversation, 10 July 2025
  • His father scoffed at the self-help gurus and nurtured his interest in business.
    Taryn Luna, Los Angeles Times, 15 Feb. 2026
  • Something that the therapy and the excuses and the self-help couldn’t conjure.
    Amber Rae, SELF, 4 Aug. 2025
  • The ecosystem has spawned merch of all types, from coffee mugs to children’s book parodies to self-help journals.
    Aja Romano, Vox, 10 Sep. 2024
  • Many courts will also offer free bankruptcy clinics or self-help resources.
    Angelica Leicht, CBS News, 4 Feb. 2026
  • And, now she is stuck with her mom, stepdad, and her 1-year-old sibling, and will never get her self-help book completed.
    Lynnette Nicholas, Parents, 14 Aug. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'self-help.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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