Read article: Talk it through and Hope Springs.

Auckland-based councillor Chris Caruana said Hope Springs was a big talking point among marriage guidance clients but not every story had a happy ending.

“Often one partner is attending just to keep the other one happy and have no intention of changing their ways.

“They are usually there looking for a way out of the relationship.”

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Read article: Kiwis flock to site with naughty name.

Relationship counsellor Chris Caruana, from website AucklandCounselling.com, criticised the site for encouraging infidelity.

“Affair isn’t a word used for single people. Single people hook up, single people get it together, single people have liaisons. But married people have affairs.

“It’s a soft inviting term to legitimise people who aren’t satisfied with the confines of their relationship, to legitimise having sex outside of that relationship.”

Mr Caruana said everyday he saw the hurt and damage affairs had caused to people, which violated what “was at the core of what is deemed to be sacred in a relationship”.

While people often justified their cheating, ultimately it was destructive and many relationships could not survive it, he said.

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Read article: Surviving pilot playing plane collision game.

Auckland counselling specialist Chris Caruana said crash survivors often felt “paralysed” by anxiety.

He said: “The ability to deal with such an event means managing some intense psychological issues which are exacerbated … a need to mentally re-enact or relieve the events in some way in order to know what could have been done differently.”

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Read article: Teens in distress.

Chris Caruana, a former counsellor at Mt Roskill Grammar, said: “The risk is always heightened if someone’s friend has recently died or there are alcohol or drugs involved.”

He said parents and teachers needed to look out for “telltale signs” such as sudden changes in behaviour, a sense of apathy and a lack of purpose among students.

“Grief has a way of distorting our perception of things. If they say things like, ‘I wish I wasn’t here, I don’t know why I’m living,’ questioning the meaning of life.

“If I was suspicious of someone harming themselves I would be quite overt about it. I don’t think there is any point in shying away from the subject.

“We can make rash and regrettable decisions.”

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Read article: Newborn killed in driveway accident.

Grief counsellor Chris Caruana said witnesses to such a tragedy would be “in a state of shock and disbelief for quite some time”.

“I can’t think of anything worse and my condolences go to the family.”

Caruana said: “It has a tremendous impact on parents blaming themselves and it has an impact on relationships tremendously. The ripple effects are huge.”

He said people involved in such tragedies needed support – even though they might feel the need to isolate themselves.

“It has to be a time of coming together and being there for the rest of the family.”

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