Relationship Advice

Read more articles about relationship advice

‘I’ve had a traumatic event, but my best friend has not really shown up for me’

Tell Me About It: ‘This person has changed from caring to much more hard-nosed’

How do I convince my boyfriend to stay connected to his difficult family?

Ask Roe: He can’t understand how I can associate with family and friends who think differently to me

‘Can I raise doubts about my relationship without ending it?’

Ask Roe: Marriage and children are on the horizon for us but I’ve started to question whether it is what I want

‘None of what I intended to do with my life has materialised but I struggle to make a decision to change it’

Tell Me About It: ‘For the umpteenth time I have questioned what I am doing there and how I should change my life to something more meaningful’

How can I convince my on-again off-again flame I’m ready to commit?

Ask Roe: I left her to go travelling, but I found out she was seeing someone else and I feel really hurt

‘I feel a bit resentful of my daughter who did not involve me in her new marriage after her husband died’

Tell Me About It: I’m afraid that if I do the wrong thing, she might cut me off

‘My son has been complaining about going to see his dad... What do you recommend?’

Ask the Expert: ‘I think my son might be bored and on video games most of the time while there’

‘My boyfriend’s a good person but he was rude to me in front of my family. Should I leave him?’

Ask Roe: ‘We don’t have much to talk about and our time together only revolves around sex’

‘I discovered the affair when a text came in on my husband’s phone’

Tell Me About It: We have decided to stay together but it has been an uphill battle to rebuild trust

My friends don’t buy me gifts and it makes me feel unloved

Ask Roe: ‘If this was a romantic, I would have a conversation about it but as it’s with friends, should I let it slide?’

‘I’m dating someone, but now she is going to hear about what I did’

Tell Me About It: I spent the night with someone I shouldn’t have . . . I feel like I cannot stop myself from self-destruction

‘My partner has a cocaine habit, and I take it too. I want him to stop for both of us’

Ask Roe: ‘He went to the doctor but didn’t mention the cocaine, and he has been prescribed antidepressants but he won’t take them’

‘I keep getting with men who won’t commit, aren’t kind and only call me for sex. I’m tired of it’

Ask Roe: ‘I want to find love and a real relationship like my friends who go out with nice guys’

My husband and I are constantly bickering. We aren’t breaking up but how can we fix it?

Ask Roe: Stress, anxiety and a lack of connection can fuel this kind of thinking

I broke up with my boyfriend recently for cheating, but I can’t stop blaming myself

Ask Roe: Take care of yourself – but also be so proud of yourself. Feel so grateful that you’re free of this man

Want to crack the formula for happiness at Christmas? Don’t argue with your aunt

How to survive the season of joy and goodwill to all – according to a neuropsychologist’s advice

‘My partner and I are in a sex lull. How do we get out of it?’

Ask Roe: ‘On holidays we have much more frequent sex, but never manage to take that renewal home with us’

Don’t lose it: How to survive the emotional timebomb of family at Christmas

For many, Christmas is a re-entry into the emotional climate of childhood, with all its insecurities, unspoken rules and long-held tensions

‘I love being home for Christmas – but my dad uses it as an excuse to drink excessively’

Tell Me About It: I’m bringing my partner home for the first time. He’s not Irish, and I’m worried he’ll judge my family

‘My kids idolise their dad. Should I tell them one reason for our separation is his affair?’

Ask the Expert: ‘I worry that they will blame me for the separation. They both idolise their Dad’

‘I’m trans and scared to date as Ireland becomes more transphobic’

Ask Roe: ‘How is it possible to date when you’re terrified that the person across from you is alt-right?’

I absolutely dread going to my husband’s parents’ home for Christmas

My mother-in-law is a control freak and she criticises everything I do, say or wear

‘I’ve been married 20 years and I don’t think I like my husband any more’

Ask Roe: My husband’s family are controlling and he never sticks up for me. I see him as weak and pathetic sometimes

‘My wife has been diagnosed with dementia and I’m upset we have not had the chance to realise our dreams’

Tell Me About It: My wife wanted me to retire five years ago, and we had plans for travelling. I stubbornly kept putting it off

‘How do I get my wife to wear lingerie for me during our lovemaking?’

how can I get her more comfortable so that she will share this experience with me during our lovemaking ?

I’m thinking of leaving my depressed partner but am horrified about what it will do to her daughter

It took a long time for me to earn this child’s trust but I feel like I am getting sucked into her mother’s black cloud

‘I’m single in my 40s, and I feel both pressure and disapproval from everyone’

Tell Me About It: ‘Extended family and friends subtly, and not-so-subtly, suggest that I’d be happier in a relationship’

‘I’m in my mid 20s and I’m still a virgin. How do I start dating again?’

Ask Roe: ‘Since breaking up with my only girlfriend I have not gone on a date or had any intimate contact with anyone’

‘I left work to rear the kids, but now I feel alone, isolated from my husband and undesirable’

Tell Me About It: ‘I really feel worthless and can’t see myself doing anything worthwhile’

‘I am often called in during rows between my daughter and my wife’

Ask the Expert: Take the time to get a deeper understanding of what is going on for family members

I don’t want to be someone who breaks up with a loving person for struggling with finances and anxiety

I don’t want to be someone who breaks up with a loving person because they struggle with finances and anxiety

‘I found a therapist, but I’m worried my parents will look up what they specialise in’

Tell Me About It: ‘I’m worried I’ll be put into a situation where I have to tell them something I don’t want to share with them yet’

‘I’ve realised I’m attracted to women – but my friends are reacting weirdly’

Ask Roe: ‘I don’t feel comfortable taking to them about dates I’ve been on, or girls I like’

‘I think my two friends – who are both married – are in love with each other’

Tell Me About It: ‘Should I tell each of them that the other person has feelings for them or let them figure it out?’

‘I have given up going to the gym because of my clingy boyfriend’

Tell Me About It: ‘His insecurity is growing all the time and the fact that we are together over a year has not helped’

‘My husband’s family operate like a cult, with my mother-in-law as leader’

Ask Roe: ‘How do I cope with this domineering and manipulative woman?’

Our long-time friend has become a judgmental gossip. Should we confront her?

Her comments are making us wonder if she is worth the bother

‘At our engagement party, my partner’s sister announced she had gotten engaged too’

Tell Me About It: ‘I now have questions about the rest of his family and their casualness about how she usurped our day’

Should I tell my friend of the rumours about his girlfriend?

Ask Roe: I worry people might be exaggerating or inventing things out of dislike for her

My friend is in a miserable relationship that she won’t leave

Tell Me About It: ‘He’s not kind to her and she has had to give up things she wanted, like marriage, because they are not what he wants’

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