I’m smitten, but I am worried that my boyfriend’s dysfunctional family will impact our relationship
Dear Annalisa, I have been dating my boyfriend (we are both in our 20s) for almost a year. I’m absolutely smitten. He makes me feel a better person,…
My sister gets into toxic fights with my mother. How can I help?
Dear Annalisa, I’m a 40-year-old man and worried about my family. Since my sister (in her late 30s) became pregnant with her first child four years ago, there…
My father threw out my box of memories, then took his own life. How do I move on?
Dear Annalisa, Not long before the Covid pandemic, my dad threw out my cardboard box of mementoes that I had stored in his garage for “safekeeping”: years’ worth…
I haven’t told my parents I have cancer, as I fear they will say something hurtful
Dear Annalisa, Last year, I was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. I have told a few people, but not my family, other than my brother, and I…
‘My mother-in-law sent me an insulting text intended for someone else. Should she apologise?’
Dear Annalisa, I’ve had a terrible run in with my mother-in-law and don’t know what to do about it. I’m married to her only son, whom…
My sister is stressed and distant. I want to help but don’t know how
Dear Annalisa, I am in my 30s and the middle child of three sisters. We don’t see one another that often as we live across the UK, but try…
I don’t want to invite my father to my wedding but feel coerced into doing so. The Guardian.
Dear Annalisa My sister and I have always had a rather fraught relationship with my father. He failed to form bonds and took no interest in…
How can I develop true self-confidence? The Guardian.
Dear Annalisa I am from a dysfunctional family where I was ignored, criticised and never given love or affection. I learned to be quiet, to never…
How can I cope with my manipulative mother? The Guardian.
Dear Annalisa I am a woman in my 50s looking for advice on how to cope with my needy and manipulative mother, who is in her…
After the Manchester attack: how do I talk to my children about distressing news stories? The Guardian.
I have only once actively hidden a news item from my daughter. She was three when Madeleine McCann went missing, far too young to know about…
Annalisa Barbieri 