How can I encourage my young daughter to leave the house at weekends?
Dear Annalisa, My daughter, who is near end-of-primary-school age, won’t leave the house at weekends, unless meeting up with a friend, or to go a party.…
I feel trapped by our family life abroad and want to move back to London
Dear Annalisa, I am of Asian background, in my late 40s, and live in the capital of my husband’s European home country with him and our two children. I…
Both my parents died and then my step-parents got together. Why can’t I be happy for them?
Dear Annalisa, I’m a woman in my 40s. My father died three years ago, my mother two. Three months after my mother’s death, her partner, Alan (not…
How do I find a balance between work, family and my new partner?
Dear Annalisa, I live with my teenage children and my mum, who had to move in because of ill health, having lost my dad a few years…
My friends haven’t been there for me since my dad’s death
Dear Annalisa, My dad died unexpectedly a few months ago and I can’t shift the resentment I feel towards some of my oldest friends, who have barely…
Should I still see my difficult sister now our parents have died?
Dear Annalisa, My sister is 12 years older than me, in her early 70s. We have always had a “seesaw”“ relationship. When it’s good, we go on holiday…
My wife finds her mother’s rightwing rants hurtful. Should we cut her off?
Dear Annalisa, My wife is constantly made extremely upset by her mother’s behaviour, which has always been difficult but has progressed to new levels. My mother-in-law is a solitary…
My mother-in-law’s partner has a police record for exposing himself. Do we tell her?
Dear Annalisa, My wife’s mother is in her 60s and divorced, and has been seeing a man her age for around six years. While he is…
I was brought up in an abusive family. Should I cut them off
Dear Annalisa, I’m going through prolonged issues that have churned up painful memories of my childhood and adulthood. It’s difficult to know how to go on, as my…
I feel the pull of family in New Zealand but worry about leaving my London life
Dear Annalisa, I’m torn between two places – London (my current home) and New Zealand, where my parents and sibling live. I’m a mixed race 29-year-old female,…
Annalisa Barbieri 
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