self-help

US: (self′help′, self′-)

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

self-help  (self′help′, self′-), n. 

1. the act of providing for or helping or the ability to provide for or help oneself without assistance from others.
2. Lawmaking the act or right of remedying a wrong, without resorting to legal proceedings.
3. Psychotherapy the acquiring of information or the solving of one's problems, esp. those of a psychological nature, without the direct supervision of professionals or experts, as by independent reading or by joining or forming lay groups that are devoted to one's interests or goals.

adj. 

4. of or pertaining to a book, article, home study course, or the like, offering an individual information or counseling intended to be personally beneficial or profitable:
   self-help books on overcoming shyness.

• 1825–35

self′-help′er, n. 
self′-help′ful, self′-help′ing, adj. 
self′-help′ful•ness, n. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

self-help noun

1. the act or state of providing the means to help oneself without relying on the assistance of others
2. the practice of solving one's problems by joining or forming a group designed to help those with a particular problem
3. (as modifier): a self-help group