If self help is reflecting on ideas and the like (regardless of where those ideas came from) then I'm wondering if the distinction between self help and psychotherapy / group therapy breaks down. I mean, it would distinguish self help from passively attending and from following directions unthinkingly... But I'm not sure it would distinguish self-help from actively thinking / reflecting on ideas that one has acquired in psychotherapy / group therapy and the like.

Of course... That could be quite a good distinction really. Sometimes therapy is about helping us learn how to help ourselves. And if we can't help ourselves by being able to process / reflect on ideas discussed in therapy then it is unlikely therapy will be of much benefit. Bit of a dilemma really...

Sometimes I think I'm helping myself by accepting myself. Don't know if that counts as 'self help' in the sense you are trying to capture. Acceptance... Isn't about change, however, it isn't about striving towards something, it isn't about improving anything... Though I guess that might be controversial. If something along the lines of mindfulness meditation (or prayer or whatever) counts as self help then while it does involve directing of attention (and is thus intentional) I'm not sure it is change driven. Sometimes self help is about acceptance of me, I think. Acceptance of me just as I am in this present moment...