Sarh Edelman says CBT is not so much about changing personality, but adjusting cognition and belief with evidence. Many of our thinking patterns are established in childhood and can remain stubborn to change, but Sarah Edelman points out that our thoughts and beliefs are influenced for better or worse throughout our adult lives: influences include the social environment, culture, friends and partners. CBT's mantra is that dysfunctional beliefs can cause unnecessary emotional pain, but we can change those beliefs. In the case of anger, CBT entails the person writing down the advantages and disadvantages of staying angry. With panic attacks, Sarah Edelman encourages people to feel the physical sensations, and help them realise the sensations usually quickly pass. For the shy, Sarah Edelman gets people to rate social events from least feared to most, then go about attending such events, all the while challenging their fear that a social gathering will end in catastrophe.

CBT can alleviate every-day problems stemming from irrational beliefs, says Dr Melissa Green, a clinical research fellow with the Macquarie Centre for Cognitive Science. These problems include frustration, anxiety, even road rage.

Dr Sarah Edelman's book Change Your Thinking (ABC Books, 2006) is a practical and reassuring guide to help overcome stress, negative emotions and self-defeating behaviour using CBT (Cognitive Behaviour Therapy). It demonstrates how to dispute that nagging voice in your head and deal more rationally with feelings of anger, depression, frustration and anxiety.