De hjælper sig selv ved at dele deres tanker åbent.

Here, De means they.

It is capitalized simply because it is the first word of the sentence. If it appeared in the middle of a sentence, it would normally be de.

A learner may also know De as a very formal way to say you in Danish, but that is not what is happening here. The rest of the sentence, especially sig selv, shows that this is third person plural: they.

Hjælper is the present tense form of the verb hjælpe, so it means help or are helping.

• at hjælpe = to help
• hjælper = help / is helping / are helping

Danish present tense is usually made by adding -r to the infinitive stem. Also, Danish verbs do not change for different persons the way English does. So:

• jeg hjælper = I help
• du hjælper = you help
• de hjælper = they help

Sig selv means themselves here.

This is a reflexive form, used when the object refers back to the subject:

• De hjælper sig selv = They help themselves

The pronoun sig points back to the subject of the clause, and selv adds emphasis, similar to self in English.

Using dem selv would normally not be the standard choice when the object refers back to the same subject. In standard Danish, sig selv is the expected form here.

Ved at means by doing something.

So:

• ved at dele = by sharing

This is a very common Danish pattern:

• ved at + infinitive

It describes the method or means by which something happens.

So the sentence structure is:

• De hjælper sig selv = They help themselves
• ved at dele deres tanker åbent = by sharing their thoughts openly

After at, Danish normally uses the infinitive form of the verb.

So:

• at dele = to share
• deler = share / shares in the present tense

Because the sentence has ved at, the next verb must be infinitive:

• ved at dele = by sharing

Not:

• ved at deler

It means share here.

The verb dele can sometimes mean divide or split, but in contexts involving ideas, feelings, or information, it often means share.

So:

• dele en kage = divide a cake
• dele tanker = share thoughts

In this sentence, dele deres tanker åbent clearly means share their thoughts openly.

That is a very good question.

If the thoughts belong to the same people as the subject de, many learners are taught that sine tanker is the clearest reflexive choice:

• De hjælper sig selv ved at dele sine tanker åbent

That version very clearly means they are sharing their own thoughts.

As written, deres tanker is still understandable, especially because the context makes the meaning obvious. But it is less strictly reflexive and can be more ambiguous in other sentences.

So the short version is:

• sine tanker = the clearest reflexive textbook choice
• deres tanker = understandable here, but less precise

Because åbent is functioning like an adverb here, meaning openly.

The basic adjective is:

• åben = open

But when Danish uses many adjectives adverbially, it adds -t:

• åbent = openly / in an open way

So:

• dele deres tanker åbent = share their thoughts openly

This is similar to how English often changes an adjective into an adverb, although Danish does it differently.

Yes, the word order is completely normal.

The sentence breaks down like this:

• De = subject
• hjælper = finite verb
• sig selv = object
• ved at dele deres tanker åbent = phrase explaining how they help themselves

So the core pattern is:

• Subject + verb + object + extra information

And inside the last part:

• ved at dele = by sharing
• deres tanker = their thoughts
• åbent = openly

The placement of åbent at the end sounds natural and idiomatic.

Yes, it is a common reflexive expression.

At hjælpe sig selv can mean to help oneself in the sense of benefiting oneself or doing something good for oneself. That is the meaning here.

So in this sentence, the idea is not just literal helping. It means something closer to:

• they benefit themselves
• they do themselves good
• they improve their situation

by sharing their thoughts openly.

Depending on context, forms of hjælpe sig selv can also be used in other ways, but here it clearly means they help themselves emotionally or practically by being open.