There are productive (empowering) and unproductive (parasitic) forms of self-help. I have found the former to be useful for as long as I can remember; the latter to be strongly avoided.
How does one discern between productive and unproductive forms of self-help?
It's up to each individual to decide, but is progress being made, or at the very least, are behaviors changing as a result of the person's efforts and not only because of the outside help?