Media
How can I support a friend or family member that is grieving? | Rotary District 6440 Mental Health Task Force
A presentation on how can to support friends and family that are grieving.
Dealing w/ Addiction, Loss & Reaching for Beautiful | Empathy Gaps
An interview with the Empathy Gaps podcast.
Why I Wrote and Published My Memoir | Writer’s Digest
Author Sally McQuillen in her own words on the costs and rewards of writing and publishing a memoir of loving and losing a child.
Reaching for Beautiful: A Journey Through Grief with Sally McQuillen | Real Things Living
The episode explores the layers of parental love, the challenges of navigating modern mental health—especially in the digital age—and how storytelling can be a profound tool for healing.
The Unthinkable Loss: Surviving the Loss of a Child with Sally McQuillen | The Wisdom of Grief Podcast
We explore the complexities of loving a wildchild, the weight of ‘mother guilt’, the necessity of new levels of self care, and the importance of having a plan when waves of grief hit.
Her Son Died Tragically – A Mother's Journey Through Grief, Loss & the Afterlife | Passion Harvest Podcast
In this deeply moving video, Sally McQuillen shares her personal journey after the tragic death of her son, Christopher.
Sally McQuillen | All About Healing with Emily Francis
Ep. 344 Radiate Light with Sally McQuillen | The Radiate Wellness Podcast
McQuillen shares insights about what it’s like to experience the emotional aftershocks of acute grief, filtered through the dual lens of her personal experience as a mother and her professional vantage point as a psychotherapist.
Episode 295: Christopher's Mom | Losing a Child: Always Andy's Mom
From the first pages of reading the memoir written by today's guest, Sally McQuillen, I was quite honestly hooked.
Reaching For Beautiful with Sally McQuillen "A Memoir of Loving & Losing a Wild Child" | High Road to Humanity
Sally talks about how she handled her grief after the sudden loss of her son and shares her struggles.
Breaking the Silence, April 13, 2025 | Breaking the Silence with Dr. Gregory Williams
This week's Special Guest will be Sally McQuillen. She is a psychotherapist in private practice, specializing in addiction recovery, grief and trauma healing. She earned a Master's Degree in Social Work. She is also the author her book: "Reaching for Beautiful: A Memoir of Loving and Losing a Wild Child" in which she tells about losing her 21-year-old son in a tragic boating accident.
Instagram Live with Cyrus Webb Reviews
Reaching For Beautiful - A Mother's Journey: Love, Grief, and Healing with Sally McQuillen | The Heart-Centered Therapist Podcast with Sindee Gozansky
In this deeply moving episode of the Heart-Centered Therapist Podcast, Sindee Gozansky sits down with psychotherapist and author Sally McQuillen to talk about love, loss, and what it means to keep going.
Local mother’s book details grieving process following 2016 tragedy | The Record North Shore
Friends and admirers filled a room at the Winnetka Community House on Friday evening to congratulate Sally McQuillen on the launch of her book, “Reaching For Beautiful: a Memoir of Loving and Losing a Wild Child.”
Navigating Loss & Coping with Grief | Free Thinking with Montel
On this emotionally profound episode of Free Thinking with Montel, we explore the deep and complex grief of losing a child. Montel sits down with Sally McQuillen, a licensed clinical social worker, certified addiction counselor, and author of the memoir, Reaching for Beautiful.
HPH Book Club welcomed author Sally McQuillen | Helping Parents Heal Book Club
Carol Allen and Lynn Hollahan welcomed Sally McQuillen; Joe McQuillen's wife, as she spoke about her new book, 'Reaching for Beautiful:' a luminous story of how love triumphs over pain, love transcends fear, and love never dies; this debut memoir from a mother grieving her young-adult son’s death is a must-read for any parent who has lost a child, is raising a child from the edge of their seat, or whose family struggles with addiction.
Spotlight: Reaching for Beautiful: A Memoir of Loving and Losing a Wild Child by Sally McQuillen | What Is That Book About
For fans of Joan Didion’s The Year of Magical Thinking or David Sheff’s Beautiful Boy, this debut memoir about a mother grieving her young-adult son’s death is a must-read for any parent who has lost a child or whose child struggles with addiction.
Reaching for Beautiful - Sally McQuillen | From Sparks to Light - Inspiring Stories for Challenging Times
It is a phone call no parent wants to receive. A child is missing —or even worse, presumed dead. That was the call that Sally McQuillen and her husband, Joe, received on a cold January day, nine years ago. Their 21 year old son, Christopher, and three friends, drowned in a boating accident when the canoe they were in capsized on an icy lake in Wisconsin.
A Memoir from a Grieving Therapist by Sally McQuillen | Women Writers, Women’s Books
I began writing to my son Christopher twenty-one days after he died at the age of twenty-one in an accident. I wrote to connect with him. I wrote to let him know how I was feeling after he left his beautiful body and went somewhere I wasn’t yet sure existed. Most of all, I wrote because of my great need to have him know how fiercely I love him.
Sally McQuillen - Reaching For Beautiful | Terry Shepherd
In Reaching for Beautiful, psychotherapist Sally McQuillen takes us on an intimate journey through love, loss, and healing. As a mother and addiction recovery specialist, she offers a deeply personal and unfiltered look at grief—exploring the weight of fear, guilt, and regret while uncovering the resilience that emerges from profound loss.
Love Beyond Loss: A Mother’s Journey Through Grief, Addiction, and Healing | Stories from the 78
When McQuillen’s 21-year-old son, Christopher, dies in a boating accident, her worst fear becomes reality. Christopher was a risk-taker, a thrill-seeker who struggled with addiction, and his life was as exhilarating as it was fragile. In this deeply moving memoir, McQuillen chronicles his jam-packed years with raw honesty and profound love, weaving in reflections on her own childhood and her family’s history of alcoholism.
Reaching For Beautiful | The Kathryn Zox Show
A luminous story of how love triumphs over pain and love never dies; this debut memoir from a mother grieving her young-adult son’s death is a must-read for any parent who has lost a child, is raising a child from the edge of their seat, or whose family struggles with addiction.
Her Angel Soul son crossed at 21 & took her on a journey to a new world of spirit conversations | Sue Frederick's Mystical Conversations Podcast
Sally McQuillen, a grounded psychotherapist and addictions counselor, tried to keep her "wild child" son Christopher safe. Yet as a 33 angel master soul - her son stayed as long as he could in the earth realm. His death at the age of 21 was the shattering of life as she knew it and her opening to another world of extraordinary awareness that we are souls on a journey of evolution.
Healing Through Words: Sally McQuillen's Memoir Journey | The Wordslinger Podcast
Sally shares her powerful journey of processing grief through writing after losing her son Christopher, and how journaling on her phone eventually evolved into her upcoming memoir, Reaching for Beautiful: A Memoir of Loving and Losing a Wild Child.
Beyond Grief to What’s Beautiful with Sally McQuillen | Igniting the Spark
When Sally’s twenty-one-year-old son died in a boat accident, her greatest fear was realized. Christopher was often drawn to risk and struggled with addiction. In her riveting memoir, Reaching for Beautiful: A Memoir of Loving and Losing a Wild Child, Sally captures the wild ride of his jam-packed life and her deep love for him while reflecting on her childhood and family’s legacy of alcoholism.