The day I arrived to live in Edinburgh was, I think, the worst day of my life.

Don’t get me wrong – I totally love this city, and it’s one of the best places in the world to live. It just didn’t get off to the best start for me.

The thing is, on that day I was escaping from a very bad relationship...

Meeting a good man is partly a numbers game.

To meet a man who would suit you for a relationship you’ve got to meet some men. And the more men you can meet, the more chance you’ll find a gem among them.

I always advocate including online dating in your strategy, as it’s a way of bumping up the num...

One of my mentors, Professor Robin Dunbar is an evolutionary psychologist and biologist and he and his team at the University of Oxford have been studying friendships and social networks for the last couple of decades. He published a review of his work a few years ago and it began with this heading:...

On a call I had a few months back, my client Nicola* explained her problem with dating.

She feels she can’t go for a guy who’s not especially good looking, or not completely sorted financially. And she says this is because she doesn’t want her friends to think she’s “given up”, and she doesn’t want...

You might have noticed that everyone is going on about “reflection” right now – it’s January after all, the time when we think about what’s been working for us, and what we need to do differently.

So I’ve been doing a bit of reflection too. On a personal level, I need to get more exercise, and to d...

How did your Christmas go? I hope you had a fab one and got to spend some good times with your friends and/or family.
 

So now we’re in the in-between time! If you’re lucky enough not to be working, this is when you can relax a bit, watch telly or get started on those books you’ve been meaning to re...

I can see it now. You've been invited to an Xmas party, or you have an opportunity to attend a festive event, a new year's shindig or whatever, but you’re thinking

“Ughh, it’s cold and wet outside, and I won’t know anyone, and I don’t have the energy for socialising, and I’d much rather crash out i...

I must admit I get a bit mad when I hear the phrase, 

“If it’s meant to be, it will be”.

Or as they say here in Scotland: 

“What’s for you won’t go by you”.

It's very convenient, isn't it? It takes responsibility out of our hands so we can blame the “Universe” if things don’t go exactly th...

Are you always the one who’s doing her best to make sure everyone else is happy and comfortable?

Do you like to find consensus rather than impose your opinion on others?

Are you good at providing sympathy to a friend in need?

Some would say you’re a “people pleaser” but I don’t like this term ...

Have you been talking yourself out of finding love?

It’s easy to find a multitude of excuses as to why we can’t find a decent man and so maybe we should just give up.

You might have come to the conclusion that actually you’re better off on your own. You’re far too busy to incorporate a man into yo...

You know how it goes… you walk into the bar to meet your date, and there he is sitting at a table, looking super-confident and at ease. He looks up and spots you, and his face lights up with a wide, gorgeous smile. There’s a glass of champagne already waiting at your place, you sit down and the conv...

Do you find yourself bored to death on first dates?

Or maybe it’s not quite that bad, but the conversation isn’t exactly setting the place on fire, and frankly, neither of you are particularly inspired to repeat the performance?

It may well be that you need to learn to “really listen” on that firs...