A better you in '97, at a price

Forget new year resolutions. Get a counsellor.

For smokers who want to stop, fatties who need to shed pounds, drinkers who long to be teetotal, philanderers who want to stop their roaming and wallflowers who want to be roses, new year resolutions are not good enough, say psychologists whose research found a huge gap between intentions and achievements.

A phenomenal increase in counselling in recent years means there are now thousands of therapists who will, for upwards of pounds 20 a time, offer not only a sympathetic ear but also the tantalising prospect of a planned approach to achieving the goal.

Psychologist Ray Crozier of the University of Wales, Cardiff, says the counsellor offers something that cannot be achieved single-handed.

"A lot of resolutions are very hard to do on your own. There tend to be more successful outcomes if other people are involved, not necessarily a therapist, possibly organisations like Weight Watchers or Alcoholics Anonymous.

"You need some kind of plan of action. Research shows that there is a huge gap between intentions and achievements and you need a structured approach because there are all kinds of factors, like, for instance, peer-group pressure. If you want to give up smoking and all your friends smoke, you are always going to be under pressure."

Counselling treatments are now on offer for conditions including anxiety, depression, marital problems, physical illness, abnormal grief, shyness, and sexual, personality, dieting and compulsive disorders.