Problem Pages

Problem pages. People turn to others, sometimes a problem page when they are in need of advice, support, sympathy, understanding, care, a listening ear, a sounding board and advice. For this reason there are now various websites offering their advice columns, marriage advice, divorce advice, dating advice and information and guidance on anything to do with romance, love and life.



But there is good and bad to this issue. The good thing about this is that there are now a lot of sites where you can access this information instantly on your computer, very often totally free of charge. But there is a downside to this too. You can be swamped with choice and it is hard to work out who is trustworhty to give you the right advice.



I wonder if you knew that most of the people who seek out advice from strangers are wanting help with relationship issues. And nearly every one of them is a young woman. They are wanting to get together with someone they like a lot, or they are in a relationship and it has troubles that they hope can get resolved if they get the right advice. Relationship advice is at the top of the list when people seek out advice, it comes before work, money and health.



MAYBE this is because people get into more of a tizz when it is about being in love. Our emotional and mental happiness and welfare is just as important as our physical health and it can affect how we feel physically. I have known of people who have ended up with awful physical symptoms such as feeling nauseous, dizzy, migraines, stomach aches and similar complaints simply because they were lonely, depressed, sad or worried.



To give advice to someone who has a relationship issue is a very big responsibility. It is not enough to care we have to know that the advice given is good and worth having too. Anyone who is going through a bad time needs to be able to trust the person they turn to to be putting their needs first. This is why I set up The Association of Agony Aunts. I find it irresponsible that people with no proper training or expertise are legally allowed to set themselves up as an agony aunt, offering advice to people in need,

when many of them are not really able to achieve it and give the help needed. I made sure I was thoroughly tested, many years ago, the Press, experts and other professionals vouched for me, otherwise I would not have continued to ask strangers to trust me with their problems nor had the cheek to ask them for money for that advice.



Anyone who comes to me for a job has to be properly trained elsewhere or by me and properly and fully tested before they are allowed to give "advice" to people who need it. Otherwise there is a risk that the information or advice they give is doing more damage than it is helping. And I know that when a person is suffering and upset the last thing they need is to turn to someone for guidance and get the wrong information, they will feel even worse then.



Did you know that 99% of clients who consult an online or face to face expert are female? And of those 80% are females that are under the age of 25? Did you know that of those 80% are single or dating and have never been married or had a baby? Some of these girls are not able to talk to family or friends, they have no support elsewhere, making it an even bigger responsibility.worthy. When we turn to someone for comfort and advice we need to be sure that the knowledge and information they give us is worth having, that anything they tell us is accurate and helpful.



If we simply want to sound off and moan about things or talk to someone who does not understand or cannot help we can do this with someone at work, or a neighbour or a friend, and at least with them we have the advantage that they already know things about us that might help them to understand how we feel and the situation we are in. The worst thing you can do when you are desperate for advice is to turn to someone who is unreliable and gives the wrong information or is not really concerned about you and simply sees you as a way to make money, a business transaction.



It is not legally necessary to be qualified when you work as an agony aunt, it should be but it is not. This means that anyone who has some money to spare and some ambition to make money can set up a website and purport to be an expert. They may be genuine and it is possible they really do care, but you cannot be sure of this. I have worked as a leading, qualified expert for over thirty years and come across a lot of people who claim and genuinely believe themselves to have what it takes to do this work, but that does not mean they were right. Some were simply bored housewives, others were going through an identity crisis, some were at a loose end and bored and thought it would offer them the excitement and feeling of importance they craved. If they can give the help needed this is fine but without that ability it is dangerous.



In a way to be given the wrong advice when you are anxious, worried, needing to know where to turn is as bad as giving you the wrong medicine when you go to see a doctor and find out they were a quack. You need the right help and you need it now, while you are suffering. You are already feeling awful so to end up feeling worse is unforgiveable.



It is very important to me that I do what I can to make sure that people get good advice. For this reason I set up The Association of Agony Aunts and only allow experts who have been thoroughly trained to work for me. To me it is far more important that the person gets the right advice than that the person wanting to give the advice is satisfied. If you want to get advice from unqualified people you can go onto dating, relationship and problem forums and get that for free, you would not need to pay anyone for it nor trust them with a huge and mind boggling problem.



For expert advice, a great problem page, training and jobs for those who are interested and suitable go to askagonyaunt.com by The Association of Agony Aunts. Charlotte Craig has been recommended by the Press, experts, professionals and celebrities, they cannot all be wrong. Problem pages.