Leigh Peregoy

Leigh Peregoy, MSW, LCSW

Leigh is a licensed clinical social worker with a private practice in Bossier City, LA. She has been providing grief support and bereavement services for over twelve years to the people in her community. She has also worked in medical hospitals, physical rehabilitation hospitals, hospice, and psychiatric inpatient and outpatient facilities. Besides her expertise in grief, Leigh has specialized in working with older adults with physical and psychiatric problems.

As a Board Member and group facilitator with A Place That Warms the Heart, Leigh Peregoy has worked with over 200 grieving parents in a group support setting. A Place That Warms the Heart is a non-profit family grief center that provides free grief support groups for children, teenagers, adults with a significant loss and parents who have lost children. These groups are facilitated by medical and mental health professionals who are highly trained to deal with grief and loss.

In her office, Leigh works with adult individuals and couples with grief issues, depression, anxiety, problems with anger, stress, pain, and life transitions. She approaches these emotional and life issues from a Mind-Body-Spirit perspective.

I have dedicated my career to working with individuals and couples who have suffered a significant loss. Although grief is a natural response to a loss, grief changes lives in ways that can be over-whelming to some. Our response to a loss is affected by many factors that we often cannot see when we are hurting. One's perspective on life is forever changed and sometimes one's beliefs are challenged. I have worked with over 200 parents that have lost a child through death. I have learned much from these parents and their losses have changed me and challenged me on every level of my life. What I know to be true is that one never "gets over" the loss of a child. A parent will grieve for the rest of his or her life. Sometimes the grieving person has wonderful support and their faith is strengthened by the loss. They actively move through grief processes and are able to find new meaning in life. However, many grieve in silence and they do not have adequate support. Those of us who have not suffered a significant loss often have difficulty "being there" for someone who has lost a child. One of my favorite quotes states that "grief rewrites your address book." People we thought would always be there to give support are unable to deal with the intense emotions of someone who is grieving. Sometimes only someone who has also lost a child can truly understand. This is why a group for grieving parents is such a powerful healing experience. They find people who do understand their loss and who can offer the level of support they need. I facilitate grief support groups for parents throughout the year. With A Place That Warms the Heart, I provide free group services to grieving parents. I also facilitate an ongoing group in my office for a small fee. For more information about the services I provide, contact me by way of phone or email.

APPROPRIATE EXPECTATIONS YOU CAN HAVE for YOURSELF IN GRIEF

by Dr. Therese Rando (How To Go On Living When Someone You Love Dies)

Your grief will take longer that most people think.
Your grief will show itself in all spheres of your life: psychological, social, and physical.
Your grief will depend on how you perceive the loss.
You will grieve for what you have lost already and for what you have lost in the future.
Your grief will entail mourning not only the actual person you lost but also for all the hopes, dreams, and unfulfilled expectations you held for and with that person, and for the needs that will go unmet because of the death.
You may experience grief spasms, acute upsurges of grief that occur suddenly with no warning.
You will have trouble thinking (memory, organization and intellectual processing) and making decisions.
You may begin a search for meaning and may question your religious and/or philosophy of life.
You may feel like you are going crazy.

Grief-Loss-Transformation