How do I Choose the Best Self-Help DVD?

Choosing the best self-help DVD can be a complex decision. There are so many of them that might useful and just about all of them seem to promise transformational help on the issues they address. A little bit of skepticism might be useful in making a choice, since if all of these DVDs worked as promised, the world would likely be a problem-free place. The truth is, people will respond to each plan, program, or set of self-help ideas differently, and what works for one person may not be adequate to another. Essentially, it may take some trial and error to find the right self-help DVD, but people may get some help by narrowing down problem/s they want to address, getting recommendations from a variety of sources, previewing or fully viewing some DVD offerings, and determining whether an issue is really appropriate to self-help solutions.

Narrowing down problems is useful when looking for a self-help DVD. Some people want very specific help with different types of challenges. For instance, they want to pick better people to date or find out how to be more loving to the self. With these goals in mind, folks can choose DVDs that are specific to their issues, leaving behind the many that won’t address these things adequately. Of course, some people want a much more general DVD that stresses a particular approach to life, and these can be found too.

Given the array of choices, getting recommendations may be an excellent way to choose a self-help DVD. Recommendations can come from many sources including family or friends. Professionals, such as doctors or therapists, might also weigh in on this issue and suggest DVDs that have been most useful to other clients. Even though the goal is to get a DVD, sometimes CDs or books are recommended instead, and people truly looking for help should probably not ignore these suggestions.

It’s likely people will need to view more than one self-help DVD, and this doesn’t necessarily mean having to buy them all to take a trial run. Check for popular ones at well-stocked video rental stores, and people may even be able to save a few bucks by checking out library copies of certain DVDs. If the DVD is popular, sign up on the waiting list at the library, since this usually gets the disc into a person’s possession sooner. After viewing several DVDs, people usually have a strong sense of the one that is most useful and would be worth buying for repeated viewings.

It’s important to note that not all problems lend themselves to solutions offered by a self-help DVD. Most forms of mental illness and addiction need the greater support of mental health counselors. Any types of behaviors that routinely physically endanger a person are probably not easy to address with a self-help program. Many of these programs stress knowing when to ask for help from others, and these example situations are certainly time to get professional support. On the other hand, using self-help DVDs as adjunct to professional help could prove very fruitful.