Professionals meeting at the Capital Theatre have said a seminar from an internationally recognised expert was a chance to highlight the importance of shaping boys’ emotional intelligence, at a time when one in three women experienced family violence.
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International parenting expert Justin Coulson was in town on Thursday for a series of seminars. They included one delivered to teachers, welfare workers and other professionals about increasing respectful relationships.
“In particular we will look at boys respecting women,” Dr Coulson said before the event.
Bendigonians did not get many opportunities to hear from high-profile public speakers, unless they travelled to Melbourne, attendee Anne-Maree Britt said.
She and CatholicCare Sandhurst colleague Kate Kerlin were among those who attended the session.
“We work with parents so, like Justin, we are trying to make sure parents are aware of their gender biases as they bring up children,” Kate said.
“We are very interested in gathering new information and validating what we already do.”
She said incidents of family violence were high. One in three women were physically abused by a partner or family member.
That statistic underlined the need for information that that could be used out in the field, Kate said.
“There are men who are unable to talk about, or manage, emotions in other ways. It’s really about supporting parents to educate their boys to develop emotional intelligence,” she said.
“We are putting out the same message (as Dr Coulson), basically,” Anne-Maree said.
A second seminar later in the day was tailored to parents, exploring different ways to make family life happier in 21 days.
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“It’s not that families aren’t happy. But we could all be happier from time to time – whether it’s making mornings magic, getting more night-time nurture, setting more effective limits with our kids or simply having more fun with our families,” Justin said before the event.
For more information on Justin’s work visit his website at www.happyfamilies.com.au