Complex emotional need pathway self-help

The complex emotional need pathway offers self-help resources to support people in understanding and managing their emotions, relationships, and mental wellbeing.

Understanding personality disorders

Personality disorders affect the way people think, feel, and relate to others. If you want to learn more, these websites provide useful information:

• learn about different types of personality disorders with NHS personality disorder (opens in new window), their symptoms, and treatment options
• Mind (opens in new window) helps you to understand the different types of personality disorders and how they can affect daily life
• find out more with Rethink (opens in new window) about diagnosis, treatments, and support available for people living with personality disorders

Self-help resources

If you are looking for ways to support your mental health, these self-help resources may be useful.

General self-help

• Self-help leaflets (opens in new window) that cover topics such as sleep, panic, self-harm, stress, alcohol, and anxiety.
• Self-help toons (opens in new window) provide animated videos explaining mental health topics in a simple and engaging way.
• Resources to help build confidence and improve self-worth (opens in new window).
• Learn how thoughts and emotions impact relationships and ways to manage them with a free course on thoughts, feelings and relationships (opens in new window).

Dialectical behaviour therapy resources

The complex emotional pathway uses dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) as an individual therapy to treat complex emotional needs or dysregulation. These tools can be used to help you in your therapy:

• worksheets and skills (opens in new window)
• therapy tools (opens in new window)
• self-help and therapy resources (opens in new window)

Videos

These videos provide guidance on managing emotions and improving wellbeing:

• Problem-solving video (opens in new window): Learn a step-by-step approach to solving problems effectively.
• Mindfulness and radical acceptance (opens in new window): Techniques to help stay present and accept difficult emotions.
• Urge surfing (opens in new window): A strategy to manage cravings, impulses, or emotional urges without acting on them.
• 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 grounding exercise (opens in new window): A technique to calm anxiety using your senses.
• Heartbeat exercise (opens in new window): Simple exercises to help you connect with emotions and regulate stress (requires movement, seated or standing).
• Self-soothe (opens in new window): Learn ways to comfort and calm yourself in distressing situations.
• Wise mind (opens in new window): Understand how to balance logic and emotions for better decision-making.
• Opposite action (opens in new window): A dialectic behaviour therapy skill that teaches how to change emotions by acting opposite to how you feel.

YouTube channels

These channels offer guidance on mental health, self-help strategies, and dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) skills:

• Mind matters minutes channel (opens in new window): Short videos covering mental health topics and self-help strategies.
• Dialectic behaviour therapy skills from experts channel (opens in new window): Expert-led guidance on dialectic behaviour therapy skills for emotional regulation and distress tolerance.

Applications

You may find these applications useful for relaxation, mindfulness, mood management, and recovery support:

• Calm is a mindfulness app to encourage relaxation, alleviate tension and relieve stress
• WRAP, wellness recovery action plan is a simple and powerful process for creating the life and wellness you want
• Headspace is a meditation app designed to help you live more mindfully
• Bright Sky is an app providing support and information for anyone who may be in an abusive relationship or those concerned about someone they know
• Moodkit offers over 200 activities designed to boost your mood and help change negative thinking
• Happify uses games to boost your mood, the activities were developed with positive psychology techniques and CBT interventions
• Recovery Record is a tool for anyone recovering from an eating disorder, includes affirmations, coping tactics, goal settings and trackers for food, thoughts and feelings
• Sanvello is described as feel-better toolkit, including therapy, coaching, coping techniques, meditations, and goal and mood tracking, to help you feel better
• Worry Watch helps you manage anxiety and mood using guided anxiety journaling, coping techniques, mood check ins and positive reinforcements

Plan your journey

If you use public transport, the Traveline journey planner provides information about what services and times are available.

Page last reviewed: March 10, 2025
Next review due: March 10, 2026