Charlotte Smith meets Sarah O'Donoghue

Charlotte Smith looks at the support offered by self help groups to those suffering from emotional trauma.

When Sarah O'Donoghue's eighteen year old son died while out celebrating his A level results, she felt she needed to turn to the professionals for help; doctors, bereavement counsellors, therapists.

It was only after many months that she finally turned to The Compassionate Friends; one of the several charities that offers support and help to bereaved families after the death of a child. Here she found solace by talking to and being with others who had been through the same experience themselves.

Sarah now runs a group for bereaved families in her area.

Charlotte and Sarah discuss the positives and negatives of being part of such a group; the support that is given to people who so badly need it, whether there is a danger members could become too dependent, and at what point people might make the sometimes painful decision to leave a group.

Producer: Lucy Lunt.