TV psychologist"s lecture on parenting at Tattersalls

'The more you can try and stay calm and cool in the face of whatever situation you find yourself in, the better.' It"s the kind of advice that might come in useful to some stressed-out business executive in the face of relentless, bad economic news. The words, however, belong to clinical psychologist, broadcaster and author David Coleman and he was talking about what he felt was the single most important asset a parent can possess. 'If you find yourself getting completely overwrought, angry and frustrated we then to make bad decisions, say things we don"t mean, we threaten consequences we can"t follow through on and we just get ourselves into a big row and don"t really achieve much,' he added, speaking ahead of a Meath lecture aimed at parents of young children. Giving advice to parents and the demands that go with raising children is something Coleman has become accustomed to in his job. It is also something he does in his other role as a presenter of the RTE television series 'Families in Trouble," '21st Century Child" and the latest, 'Teens in the Wild." He is also the author of 'Child"s Play", a guide to raising children, and he regularly appears on the Moncrieff Show on Newstalk 106-109, dealing with questions posed by parents. Next Thursday, 2nd April, Coleman will be at Tattersalls, Fairyhouse, Ratoath, where he will give a lecture on raising youngsters, focusing specifically on pre-primary and primary children. A father of three, Coleman has worked with families for over 10 years as a psychologist. He says he is usually asked a wide range of questions by inquisitive, sometimes bewildered parents. 'A lot of questions would be about behavioural problems,' he said. Parents, he warns, would be mistaken to believe that it all gets easier as their children get older. 'That"s not necessarily the case because, as they hit the school-age years, there"s that whole interaction with the schools and you have to change a lot about how you parent because you need to adopt different kind of strategy. 'When they are small, we tend to use behavioural management type of strategies. When they hit teenage years, you need to be much better able to negotiate with them and help them develop a sense of inner motivation rather than simply being responsive to external demands, Rather than be forced to do something they are rewarded for doing something. As you move through childhood and adolescence parents face different kind of challenges all the way along.' Coleman, who lives in Co Clare, has moved from the world of clinical psychology to the world of TV and radio with relative ease and he has found the work to be rewarding. 'What"s so great, certainly about doing the television work, is that because it is such an intense experience, I get to see the benefits of whatever work I am doing. Because a lot of the work I am doing is in clinical practise, I may not get to see whether it is having a big impact on a family. Once things start to go well, obviously, families don"t need to come to see me and I can"t see if there is a change in their lives; on the television series, it"s very visible, it"s happening and that"s very rewarding for me.' 'An Evening With David Coleman" will take place at Tattersalls on Thursday 2nd April at 8pm, with a wine reception scheduled for 7.30pm. Tickets are €20 when booked in advance from (01) 886 4300, or €25 on the door on the night.