My Approach Goes Beyond Traditional Talk Therapy.
Using music, somatic awareness, and depth-psychology approaches to help you experience healing, not just build strategies and understanding to cope.
I provide online individual counseling via a HIPAA compliant, virtual platform for adults managing anxiety, depression, PTSD, and stress.
These individuals are often struggling to cope with out of control emotional, physical, and relational patterns born from systemic oppression, growing up with emotionally immature parents, or other themes of suppressed power and control in their lives.
I practice through a systems lens informed by feminist, decolonial, and empowerment frameworks; helping clients understand how family, culture, and social systems have shaped their internal narratives and embodied responses.
Counseling Specialties:
Complex Trauma and PTSD
Creative Adults & Artist Mental Health
Sexual & Emotional Abuse
LGBTQ+ and BIPOC
Identity Formation & Internalized Shame
Jewish Mental Health & Intergenerational Trauma
Education & Credentials:
MA, Lesley University, Boston, Clinical Mental Health Counseling & Music Therapy
BA, Goucher College, Baltimore, Music Performance (Flute)
Licensed in: VT, MD, PA
Trauma Professional trained in Trauma-Informed Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), as well as other creative and embodied approaches to trauma recovery.
My Story
Me and Jewel-Lee, a Canine Advocate at Center for Victims in Pittsburgh, where I used to work.
My office was always a mess, but she never minded.
My name is Alison Dagger and I’m a licensed music therapist and mental health counselor. My focus is on helping people recover from trauma, sexual abuse, and chronic anxiety with the help of their own music and creativity. For my clients, these symptoms often appear as overthinking, people-pleasing, perfectionism, and self-doubt.
As a person with lived experiences of these things, I understand how disempowering and isolating this feels. I’ve done the work to understand the roots of this within myself and am passionate about helping you do the same.
With over 7 years of experience, I am an experienced trauma professional and trained in creative, embodied approaches to trauma-focused care. These specialized skills help my clients build inner freedom so they can move from being stuck in their heads to feeling rooted in their bodies.
Music & Creative Reflection as the Core of Therapy
Imagine being cared for by your music, letting sound carry you to places you’ve needed to go, to emotions you’ve needed to feel. Music can connect us in profound ways. It can offer encouragement, guidance, support, nourishment, and so much more..
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You may have tried approaches that help you think differently, or ones that help you feel more deeply. My work brings together both. Using music, somatic awareness, and trauma sensitive reflection, I help you to safely face your emotions. To experience them in supportive ways that lead to inner growth and healing.
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My work is based on a foundation of trauma-focused training and first hand care working with survivors. I integrate approaches, such as parts work, CBT, and ACT, as well as more systemic perspectives, exploring how family, culture, and social systems may have shaped your internal narratives and embodied responses.
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Having a meaningful experience is just the beginning. What matters is how you understand, integrate, and grow from it. I’ll help you take what you discover and apply it to your everyday life in ways that feel sustainable and lasting.
Who is Ready?
You’re ready if you’ve tried more cognitively oriented approaches like CBT or DBT and found yourself craving something deeper. You’ve noticed how often you perform, over-adapt, or cater to the needs of others and you’re tired of not understanding why. You know this work might get messy, uncomfortable, and stretch everything you thought you knew about yourself… but strangely, that feels exciting. Because you know you can’t keep living like this.
You might feel nervous or unsure about what sharing your music, getting into your body, or being expressive with someone else might feel like, but this isn’t a deterrent by any means. In fact, you are curious for the opportunity to explore yourself in a new way. You’re ready to experience this deep inner work and to take action towards change in your life. Your ready to embrace both the suffering and the resiliency you find there.
What You Can Expect to Explore in Therapy
Together, we’ll help you move towards:
🌿 Examining unprocessed trauma & grief
🌿 Challenging faulty belief systems
🌿 Increased self-worth and self-esteem
🌿 Improved awareness of embodied responses
🌿 Learning effective coping strategies
🌿 Enhanced use of music & creativity for healing
🌿 Improving ability to maintain personal boundaries
🌿 Forgiving yourself for experiences you cannot change
🌿 Increasing communication skills
You don’t have to keep holding what others couldn’t.
Healing is possible. Let’s find your way back to yourself together.
Ready to Take the Next Step?
Take action and start your journey towards healing today.