Our smoking addiction is unlikely to have Freudian origins, our fear of unicorns however? Regardless, life moves too fast for a year of psychoanalysis. While Russian whipping therapy is an option (30 sessions of 60 lashes), we prefer more mild result-oriented remedies. So, in the name of the New Year?

Cognitive Behavior Therapy, the leader of the get-it-done group, utilizes Pavlovian-style sessions to break the cycle of negative thinking that leads to personal problems. And seeing as the government just pledged £170 million towards CBT training, you may even land an appointment before 2009.

If you lean a bit esoteric, Thought Field Therapy assumes acupuncture's meridian points and algorithms as the key to aligning thought fields and 'unlocking' inner anxieties. Instead of needles, it's a tap here, a tap there and addictive urges disappear.