Advice for grieving a lost child

Sharon LeGore, Family Advocate, shares advice for parents on how to get through the grief of one of the most difficult challenges in life, the loss of a child
Advice For Parents Grieving A Lost Child
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Advice for grieving a lost child

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Losing a child to a drug overdose, I can't even begin to tell you the emotions that take place with that. What happens too is, as parents, we feel responsible. As parents, we're supposed to be able to take care of our kids and we kiss away the boo-boos; but with addiction, you just can't kiss that away. And when you've lost a child, it's quite devastating. You need to take the time to grieve, and grieving is a process. I had somebody come up to me and say, "Well, it's been a month." You know, it's different for every person and you need to allow yourself the time to grieve, but you also need to get help. You can't do this alone. And you need counseling, and you need, and you need support, and there are resources out there to get you the help that you need, but don't rush the process. Take it at your own pace. Also, don't feel guilty. With addiction, you know you didn't cause it. You couldn't control it and you couldn't cure it. And unfortunately, I know that loss because I lost my own daughter and I had to come to terms with myself that it wasn't really my fault. It was a disease, and like any other disease, ran out of time before we could find a cure. You need to take care of yourself as well as the rest of your family.

Sharon LeGore, Family Advocate, shares advice for parents on how to get through the grief of one of the most difficult challenges in life, the loss of a child

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Sharon LeGore

Family Advocate

Sharon is the founder and president of Momstell, a parent advocacy organization she created after the death of her daughter to a drug overdose.  She created the Momstell website in order to expand the mission to join concerned parents and families to work together towards improving drug treatment, education, legislation, and policy. Mrs. LeGore has worked on many drug and alcohol policy, state budget and legislative issues for Pennsylvania, including legislation to create the first statewide Parent Advisory Council for substance abuse issues in Pennsylvania. She serves on several policy tables and co-chairs the PA Children’s Advisory Committee.

Mrs. LeGore is a consultant on substance abuse family involvement issues for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) and is also the co-director of the SAMHSA sponsored “National Family Dialogue”. Sharon co-authored the CSAT/SAMHSA report “Families of Youth with Substance Use Disorders: A National Dialogue”, an issue brief entitled “Family Involvement in Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment” a journal piece for Reclaiming Futures entitled “Family Involvement in Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment and Recovery: What do we know and what lies ahead”, co-authored the “Access to Substance Abuse Treatment: Results of a Family Survey” as well as several additional published articles. She is a national speaker and also serves on the Parent Advisory Board for the Partnership for a Drug Free America.

Sharon is the mother of four and resides in Mt Wolf, Pennsylvania with her husband Terry.

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