Somatic Music Therapy

Let music & imagery guide you home to yourself.

In-person in Waterbury, Vermont and Online across Maryland & Vermont

Music Therapy isn’t about your performance. It’s about your process.

Music and sound reach far beyond the limitations of your thinking mind, speaking the language of your body and emotions. It creates a direct bridge between what you think and what you feel.

For intuitive creatives, highly sensitive people, and trauma survivors, music is one of the fastest ways back to yourself.

In talk therapy you’re asked to…

  • Reflect on experiences of the past

  • Challenge or reframe unhelpful belief patterns

  • Build coping strategies to sit in uncomfortable emotion

  • Describe and understand your responses

  • Take information discovered in session and apply it to your life

In somatic music therapy we…

  • Experience your emotions and sensations in real time

  • Allow your relationship with music to reveal your truth

  • Move through discomfort, giving you the know how to replicate again outside session

  • Help you recall and access internally held resources (creativity, curiosity, compassion, confidence, etc.)

  • Release embodied trauma and build inner spaces of worthiness

» TAKE THE FIRST STEP

Let me paint a picture for you

We start by slowing down. Breathing. Tuning in. Noticing what’s happening inside- anxiety, a racing mind, that familiar sinking feeling in your stomach.

We don’t rush to make it disappear. We get curious about what’s underneath it: the memories, beliefs, sensations, and unmet needs battling for your attention.

Then you choose a song from your own playlist. One that will guide you where you need to go.

After a brief induction, I step back and let your music take the lead. Imagery, memories, colors, shapes, and sensations surface. You might bring them to life with movement, pastels, or other art materials, allowing your subconscious to communicate in a language beyond words.

There’s no perfect and no “right” way to experience it or draw it. The music holds the space. You listen inward, follow what emerges, and begin to reconnect with the parts of yourself that need to be heard.

I call this practice somatic music therapy because it is a combination of my training in somatic processing, trauma-responsive care, and Resource-Oriented Guided Imagery & Music- an approach rooted in Music Therapy.

Book with Alison
Alison Dagger - somatic music therapist in VT & MD -smiling on steps

LCPC (Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor), LCMHC, & Nationally Board-Certified Music Therapist | she/her

Hi there.

I’m Alison Dagger, a therapist for creatives, performers, and healers in Maryland, Vermont, and Pennsylvania.

I believe that recovery from complex trauma, chronic anxiety, and imposter syndrome is possible - and that you are not defined by what happened to you, but by who you are.

I want to help you make peace with experiences of the past, reconnect with creativity, and feel more grounded, authentic, and fully yourself.

If you seek a calming, genuine, and kind presence to guide you on your healing journey, you’ve come to the right place. Welcome.

Learn More about Alison

EDUCATION & CREDENTIALS

What makes me qualified to support you?

My clients are:

Artists | Musicians | Poets

Writers | Dancers | Singers

Therapists | Psychologists | Nurses

Theatre Performers | Actors

Creative Humans of all Walks of Life

Other Techniques We Might Use

with Somatic Music Therapy

  • Re-process trauma held in the body & mind.

    This technique, born out of EMDR, is an experiential approach that works with your brain and body’s natural capacity to process and release what may still feel stuck- often reaching places that traditional talk therapy can’t. No need to find the perfect words, this focuses on your relationship with yourself and works through the neurological & biological systems connecting your field of vision to your limbic system.

  • Rebuild your relationship with yourself.

    This approach helps you conceptualize your inner world as a system of parts. Helping you understand and work with your inner world to soften inner judgment and realign inside. Building grace, patience, and respect for the brain and body you have.

  • Understand how relationships shaped the way you relate to yourself and others.

    We explore how early relationships, family dynamics, and experiences of connection or disconnection shaped your beliefs about who you are and how safe it feels to be fully yourself. Together, we’ll help you build more authentic, mutually supportive relationships.

  • Untangle your authentic-self from the expectations placed on you.

    We explore cultural messages, power dynamics, and expectations around gender, success, creativity, and identity that have shaped the way you move through the world. Together, we’ll make space for your own values, desires, and definition of success.

  • Understand how early relationships shaped your sense of safety and connection.

    We explore how your early experiences taught you what to expect from relationships and how those experiences may still influence the way you seek approval, navigate conflict, set boundaries, and respond to rejection. Together, we’ll create new experiences of safety, trust, and connection that allow you to relate to yourself and others with greater ease.

Ready to begin your healing journey?

1) Click here to view my availability & book your first session. A brief screener will help me begin getting to know you.

2) Once I approve your request, I’ll reach out via email to introduce myself and see if you have any questions. You will receive paperwork, to be completed at least 24 hours before the session.

If needed, I am happy to hop on a brief call to answer any questions.

3) We’ll meet for your first session. I’ll introduce myself, explain my approach, and ask you questions. We will build a care plan that reflects your top priorities.

Moving forward, both of us will commit to a consistent schedule with intention and purpose.