A lot of men feel uncomfortable talking about personal issues, particularly with a stranger

Paula Hall, Relate

It is launching an e-mail advice service within the next two months to take advantage of the interest in electronic communication.

The Lord Chancellor's Advisory Group report, entitled Moving Forward Together, looks at ways to support marriage and relationships in 2002 and beyond.

E-mail or telephone counselling would suit men better as it is less anonymous than going to see a counsellor face to face, it suggests.

'Accessible'

And it would put men's addiction to the internet to good use, it adds.

Relate counsellor Paula Hall said a lot of men felt uncomfortable talking about personal issues, particularly with a stranger.

"Traditionally our society has not encouraged men to be like that," she said.

The internet causes conflict among one in 10 couples

She added it was good to see computers being used as a tool for successful counselling.

"It can get over the attitude of 'what's the point of talking'.

"Also it's accessible, which is important in a time when most men are working full time and long hours and so don't have much spare time to offer."

Computer counselling is just one of many initiatives supported in the Lord Chancellor's report on marriage and marital breakdown.

The report says support offered to couples should be accessible, and should be delivered in "innovative and varied" ways.

Others methods mentioned include offering advice at community centres and doctors' surgeries.

"Family life is undergoing unprecedented change. Marriage and partnerships are more fragile than they were even a generation ago," the report says.

Online infidelity

The report comes in response to a three-year-old document by Sir Graham Hart, former Department of Health permanent secretary.

He urged the Lord Chancellor to take a lead in policy regarding relationships.

Ironically, it is also published as the internet is blamed as the cause of conflict in one in 10 relationships.

Relate chief executive Angela Sibson says people are devoting so much time to the internet that their relationship with their partner is suffering.

Online infidelity is much easier than a real affair, she says, as the perpetrator is sitting in their own house and does not have to come up with excuses for meeting their new love.