First of all, let me introduce myself. I'm a journalist and counsellor and have been working to help people overcome their problems for around 17 years now. I've counselled a wide variety of people of all ages - both face-to-face and online - and for the last seven years have been writing an advice column- called Dear Dilys - for various newspapers in the south of England . Over the years, all manner of readers' problems have cropped up - and I hope to share some of the more useful bits of info and advice here as well.

You'll find an archive of some of my columns...listed under some of the most common problems I've dealt with...so you might like to search that to begin with to see if there's anything in there that can help you.

If that's no help you can email me through the 'ask Dilys' section. All emails will be treated in confidence and you can expect a private reply. None of these questions and answers will be published on the site for others to read unless at some stage you give me your express permission. 

 As a result of my experience of counselling young people, I've learned there's often a great need  for confidential and quick advice - so I'm offering my services free here to anyone under the age of 25.  If you have any relationship problems or sexual difficulties that you need quick responses to, I'm here to answer those for you.  I know sometimes it can be embarrassing to talk to friends, families or teachers about such stuff.....so here you can do it anonymously.

For older people with problems - in other words adults in work, I'm going to make a small charge and will ask you to pay a fee into my Paypal account at the same time as you email me your dilemma/problem/request for advice.