When parents go through a divorce, there can be friendship fallout for kids

QUESTION

Dear Irene,

My formerly popular 11-year old granddaughter is being shunned by her BFFs to the point that she doesn't want to go to school (which she formerly loved). Her parents are going through a divorce,...

Adults can help children learn the social skills they need to make friends and get along with others.

QUESTION

Hi Irene,

If your friend has no boundaries, responsibility for setting them may fall on you.

QUESTION

Dear Irene,

I developed a friendship with someone that started out as a physical therapist. Lately she has become extremely clingy and needy. She is constantly texting and if I don't respond quickly...

How do you handle overhearing something from a pocket dial you weren't intended to hear?

QUESTION

Dear Irene,

I recently listened to my cell phone messages, and one of them was a "pocket dial" that recorded a conversation between two of my closest friends (if you aren't familiar with the...

It's almost as hard to generalize about friendship problems as it is to figure out how to solve them. Some situations may sound the same or have certain elements in common, but when it comes down to the details, every friendship has a different trajectory based on a unique mix...

It's not uncommon for people to find that "friends" are not who they appear to be. Enter the social climber, who uses friendships to enhance his or her own status. A commenter on a thread on my blog, The Friendship Blog, wrote that with "20/20 retro vision" she...

In The Magic Room, storyteller Jeffrey Zaslow dazzles readers with a love story for every parent.

If the mirrors of the Magic Room could speak, they would have compelling tales to tell about love, life, parenting and marriage. Instead, Wall Street Journal columnist and...

You might call Rachel Bertsche a serial dater. But that doesn't quite capture her unique adventure. After relocating to Chicago, bereft of the strong network of friends, colleagues and familial supports she had in New York, the author spent 52 weeks prospecting for girlfriends in her search for a bestie....

While everyone wants authentic friendships, it can be challenging to find the right balance between honesty and tact

QUESTION

Dear Irene,

I have a history of dropping friendships and have wondered whether this pattern suggests I'm a horrible friend. I have counseling training and so I know something about relationships,...

Maybe it's a personal thing, but New Year's resolutions don't sit well with me. Picture a beautiful bouquet of carefully-selected balloons whose air fizzles out all too quickly. When I've made resolutions in years past, they were generally made with an initial burst of enthusiasm that fell flat well before...

When a friendship begins to feel too complicated, it's a sign that something's amiss. It could be that your friend is either withholding information from you or withdrawing. The choices are either to talk about it or to pull back. That's usually not an easy decision.

QUESTION

Why can't I make friends?

QUESTION

Dear Irene,

I have always had difficulty making friends, although the reasons seem to change as I get older. When I was very young (less than 10 years old), I didn't feel any bonds with other children. I was arrogant and...

There are ways to minimize the fallout of a friendship breakup at work.

QUESTION

Dear Irene,

Right now, only we know about it, but it's bound to spread around the office. I am not planning to say anything, but she likely will. Regardless, it will eventually become apparent to...

Mean girls come in all shapes and sizes. An episode of The Sopranos portrayed the mean girls in Paulie Walnut's mom's nursing home. This mother confronts the problem in her daughter's preschool.

QUESTION

Hi,

My daughter will be five years old. She is happy, well-mannered, loving, and pretty. She has...

Friendship threesomes can often be tricky, especially if an old friend poaches your new one.

QUESTION

Hi Irene,

I was recently married in May and feel like I've entered the Twilight Zone, and I'm not talking about my marriage...

I had a really great friend named Heather, or so I...

QUESTION:

Dear Irene,

I am generally insecure when it comes to friends. I am frightened that if I don't cooperate or meet their requirements they will dump me. This was true during my college days and now I'm married with two kids and still haven't gotten over it.

The...

Don't expect too much too soon.

QUESTION

Hi Irene,

I'm a freshman at a large, public university this year and I've been in school for almost two months now. My dorm is very small---and sororities aren't my thing---but I have joined many different clubs.

I've been very...

Making new friends takes time, self-confidence, and creativity

QUESTION

Dear Irene,

Friendships have become a sore point for me at this juncture in my life. I am in my 30s and have a lovely husband and toddler son. I used to work full time and hence, never really developed...

Everyone has self-doubts and insecurities from time to time. It's common to worry about how we look, our performance at college or at work, or how others perceive us. Sometimes we may question whether we said or did the right thing in a specific situation -- or worry about something...

The clouds and fog hang so low and the rain falls so heavy that we can barely see in front of us. We blindly follow the GPS on our rental car up the single winding mountain road that leads to Sant'Agata Feltria, navigating hairpin turns and precarious drops on both...