Parents opportunity to share issues facing their children

OVER 80 parents attended a workshop in the Fettercairn Community Centre last month to help them to deal with their children’s challenging emotional regulation.

The South Dublin County Partnership, Tusla, YMCA, Foróige and St Kevin’s Family Resource Centre organised the workshop after identifying a need for an event of this nature.

Lesley O’Reilly, a community and family support worker in St Kevin’s FRC, told The Echo: “We were able to identify that parents were struggling with being able to meet the emotional needs of their children.

“All the services came together and we thought it would be a good idea for parents to have a workshop and then after that we would highlight the different services.”

A total of 82 parents attended the event on April 24, which featured guest speaker Dr Dorothy Armstrong, and offered advice for dealing with their children’s emotional regulation.

When asked what issues with emotional regulation were coming up, Lesley said: “There is the anxiety that a lot of children are feeling.

“They’re not able to adapt well to change. The pandemic had a huge impact, children who are around ten now fear change or difference.”

The parents got the opportunity to share the issues they were facing with their own children, and to share tips and advice.

“The parents actively participated in the workshop,” said Lesley. “They were broken up into different age groups [of their children] and they spoke about the problems that were coming up and shared tips.

“They were able to take advice and help, as well as using the tools that Dr Dorothy Armstrong gave them.

“All of the parents loved it. We’ve definitely found a niche in the market so we’re planning to host another event in September.”

A date has not yet been set for the next workshop but keep an eye on the South Dublin County Partnership’s social media pages where details will be announced once finalised.

“I definitely think it’s the way forward for parents being able to access support,” added Lesley. “Up to now they’ve only been able to when they’ve reached a crisis point but this is early intervention.”