Yes, I know what I'm asking is basically sacrilege in the 'Soulsborne' community but I've played quite a few Souls games and I am kind of over the whole 'challenging myself' thing. Part of the reason I was originally drawn to the Souls franchise was the difficulty but now I just want to play Fashion Souls with a cool-ass character in a cool-ass world doing cool-ass shit. The game has so much lore and such a beautiful world and just so much creativity in general that the difficulty seems like a distraction from enjoying it.
I've heard using summons is a good way to alleviate some of the difficulty. Are there any other effective ways?
Depends on how you like to play. Summons (human or otherwise) can make most boss fights easier, but aren't common for the levels themselves and may sometimes basically play the game for you.
You can also use magic since IIRC it's pretty strong in this game, so you just stay back and shoot at most enemies from outside range.
If you can rollback to a previous patch, mimic tear is basically a super strong summon disguised as one of those spirit thingies you can summon. You can look up how to get it early (or hack it into the game).
And if you like mods, there are plenty of easy mode mods like this one:
https://www.nexusmods.com/eldenring/mods/146
I remember there also being a "slow mode" mod that decreased enemy speed like in Sekiro, but I can't find it.
Difficulty is part of the fun, but the keyword is part. Don't feel guilty if you enjoy the other parts more.
Edit: Oh, and and there are some rune farm guides on the steam forums that teach you the most efficient ways to farm depending on your progression. You never get unkillable, but it can make a lot of the game easier.