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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.