"Parents need to educate themselves"- Psychologist Dr David Coleman bringing tour to Carlow

Clinical psychologist Dr Coleman will appear at Visual in Carlow on Tuesday, October 20 at 8pm as part of his new nationwide tour, ‘Ready for Anything: Building Emotional Resilience in Children and Teenagers.’

The clinical psychologist and parenting expert is returning to the road following the success of his 2024 nationwide tour, but says this year's show will tackle a completely different topic.

Speaking ahead of the Carlow date, Dr Coleman said the tour will explore how parents and other adults can help children develop the skills they need to cope with life's challenges.

“The tour is really about how we can help children and teenagers build their emotional resilience,” he said.

While his previous tour focused on anxiety, this year's presentation will look at self esteem, self confidence, disappointment and how children respond when things do not go their way.

“It'll be looking at how do we build children's self esteem and self confidence, how do we help kids cope when things don't work out for them so that they can maybe learn from it rather than feeling deflated,” Dr Coleman explained.

The talk will also examine some of the everyday challenges faced by children and teenagers, including friendship difficulties, disappointment in sport and situations where parents have to say no.

A major theme of the presentation will be helping children develop independence while ensuring they know they have the support of the adults around them.

Dr Coleman said parents should not necessarily try to prevent their children from experiencing every difficulty, but instead help them process challenges and learn that they are capable of dealing with them.

“It's unrealistic to expect to eliminate harm because kids need to discover that they actually have more confidence to be able to deal with difficult things,” he said.

The growing influence of smartphones and social media will also feature, with Dr Coleman highlighting the impact the online world can have on children's relationships and connection with the real world.

He said he has noticed that some young people are becoming increasingly disconnected from more traditional social interactions, with children spending more of their time online.

While he questioned whether a social media ban would necessarily be effective, Dr Coleman said he believes greater restrictions around children's access to the internet could be beneficial.

For parents who are concerned about their children's online activity, his advice is to educate themselves about the digital world their children are navigating.

“Parents need to educate themselves as much as they can about the internet and about the kinds of things that kids will be interacting with online,” he said.

He also encouraged parents to keep communication open with their children and to talk to them about their experiences online.

“I particularly love talking with children because it's keeping the lines of communication open,” he said.

The Carlow show will feature an hour long presentation followed by an open audience Q&A, giving parents the opportunity to ask Dr Coleman about issues affecting their own families.

Reflecting on previous shows, he said the questions can cover a remarkably wide range of topics.

“It literally can't be anything,” he joked, when discussing what might come up during the question and answer session.

The tour has been designed for parents and adults who work with children, rather than teenagers themselves.

According to the tour organisers, Dr Coleman will draw on decades of experience working with children and families to offer practical, accessible advice on helping young people deal with adversity, social media pressures, friendship dramas and the everyday knocks of growing up.

The Ready for Anything: Building Emotional Resilience in Children and Teenagers tour will visit 8 venues around the country before concluding with three Dublin dates from October 27-29.

The Carlow show takes place at Visual on October 20 at 8pm.

Tickets and further information about the tour are available here.