ABSTRACT
In this chapter I give the readers an overview of dominant genres of self-help literature currently available in the Norwegian commercial market: neurolinguistic programming (NLP), cognitive self-help therapy, mindfulness, self-esteem, self-leadership, and self-control. The examination of the popular genres reveals how these self-help types often gain authority from psychology as a science and clinical enterprise, and I argue therefore that they should be treated as psychology in its widest sense. In addition I showcase how the globalized therapeutic culture through popular self-help notions, like being “the best version of yourself,” is not only reserved for the commercial market, but is currently influencing the educational plans of kindergartens and schools. Self-help’s wide appeal, through both market and state, may reflect how it is a symptom of neoliberal governing that also has made an imprint on Norway, where much, perhaps too much, is left to the individual’s capability to regulate him- or herself.
