A parent's worst fear, the death of their child.

Philip Copitch, Ph.D. - Author of Basic Parenting 101: The Manual Your Child Should Have Been Born With

Before I get started with this article let me give you a warning. This article is about an adult subject. I know a lot of young people read this website. This subject matter is not for the young or faint hearted.

I have been a family therapist for well over 30 years. In my experience the hardest pain for adults to deal with is the death of their child. For most parents it is simply gut wrenching and devastating.

On numerous occasions I have supported parents whose child died in a car accident involving alcohol, or who have died from a drug overdose. 

In these painful situations most families want to climb into a hole and hide (die). The pain is great and made even greater by the social embarrassment of the drugs in their young person’s life.

An important message

Below you will find the obituary of 24-year-old Molly Alice Parks. I have great respect for Molly’s parents who want to help others during their most painful loss.

Obituary for Molly Alice Parks

March 13, 1991 - April 16, 2015 

Manchester, New Hampshire | Age 24 

Loving Daughter, Sister, and Granddaughter

OLD ORCHARD BEACH- Molly Alice Parks, age 24, who most currently resided in Manchester, NH, passed away in Manchester on April 16, 2015 as the result of a heroin overdose.She was born in York, Maine on March 13, 1991, a daughter of Tom and Patti (Michaud) Parks.Molly graduated from Old Orchard Beach High School in 2009 and attended one year at SMCC until her addiction took over. Most recently, she was employed as a delivery driver for Portland Pie Co. in Manchester, NH. She enjoyed theater, fashion, reading – especially Harry Potter, and will always be remembered for fearless personality and her trademark red lipstick. Along Molly's journey through life, she made a lot of bad decisions including experimenting with drugs. She fought her addiction to heroin for at least five years and had experienced a near fatal overdose before. Molly's family truly loved her and tried to be as supportive as possible as she struggled with the heroin epidemic that has been so destructive to individuals and families in her age bracket.She is survived by her parents- Tom Parks and his wife Pat Noble of Saco and Patti Michaud Parks of Berlin, NH; sister- Kasey Parks of OOB; step siblings- Dustin and Delayna Denicourt of Biddeford; maternal grandparents- Rita and Raymond Michaud of Berlin, NH; paternal grandmother- Ruth Parks of OOB; and numerous aunts, uncles, cousins, nephews, and a niece.If you have any loved one's who are fighting addiction, Molly's family asks that you do everything possible to be supportive, and guide them to rehabilitation before it is too late.Visitation will be held on Wednesday, April 22, from 4-8 PM at the Old Orchard Beach Funeral Home, 36 Portland Ave., Old Orchard Beach, ME 04064

From Tribures.com

Important contact numbers for you to have and share

If you or somebody you love is struggling with addiction, here are some resources to help you help them:

Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline Helpline: 1-800-273-TALK (8255) Always open 24/7

Mental health links of interest

List of common street drugs and what they look like

Parenting, the anti-drug

By Philip Copitch, Ph.D.

Dear Dr. Phil,

Last year my family came to see you for some help after I was a victim of a crime. We greatly appreciated your help. We learned a lot.

The kids got shirts from your waiting room with ideas on things to do with the family. On a rainy day my son was complaining about being board. He had on the shirt. We decided to do some of the things. So we wrote a song. Then we just kept doing stuff on the shirt. Just want to let you know that we did them all. It was lots of fun.

Thanks form, Mary, Sally, Bobby and Chris.

Thanks Mary it was wonderful to hear from you.

The shirts are a lot of fun. I like the message... Parenting, the anti-drug.

Dr. Phil

How would you start an international conversation about drug usage?

By Philip Copitch, Ph.D.

If you had a limited budget, but you really wanted to talk to lots of people around the world about drugs, how would you get the word out?

The Israel Anti-Drug Authority got creative and used Facebook... 
until they were forced to stop.

Take one minute and 43 seconds to learn what happened:




Drugs set your timeline from Israel Anti-drug Authority on Vimeo.