vanessa hale, mt-bc, ryt-200  

(They/Them)

Board-Certified Music Therapist

Ages I Work With:  Teens and Adults

I’m Passionate About Working With:

  • Groups in community and clinical settings (mental health, peer support, and recovery centers)

  • Individuals who have experienced trauma, are going through life transitions, or are just trying to get through challenging times

  • Folks in the LGBTQIA2+ community

  • People who are curious about how they can better care for themselves and their mental health

  • People who are interested in learning how to express themselves and better understand themselves through reconnecting with creativity

Specialized Training and Expertise

  • 200-Hour Registered Yoga Teacher

i believe…

  • Music can carry us through difficult times and help us build healthy and vulnerable connections with others

  • The innate wisdom of every human should be honored by practitioners who collaborate and co-create goals with clients based on their values and personal wellness aspirations

  • We are all born with creativity and it is in our most ancient human nature to navigate life through music, art, and movement.

  • In reducing the stigma against mental health struggles by being open about my personal journey with mental illness and neurodivergence

  • In building resilient and interdependent communities

  • There are no wrong answers in music therapy, and all parts of us are welcome

  • We all have within us a profound capacity for change, growth, and healing

IN MY SESSIONs I LIKE TO:

  • Find ways to make music and art as accessible and engaging as possible for folks of all ages, abilities, identities, and stages of life

  • Honor and make space for a client’s full, authentic self, including the intersecting and fluctuating identities we all bring to the session

  • Provide trauma, racial, and disability justice-informed care to the best of my ability, while actively learning how to do better, because we cannot fully open ourselves to healing when we are being subjected to re-traumatization

  • Bring yoga and movement to support building the mind-body connection and grounding in the present moment

  • Emphasize autonomy by providing choices and opportunities for improvisation and going with the flow of the client or group’s ever-changing needs

Vanessa, a white person with brown hair in a buzzcut, is pictured in a green long-sleeve shirt while smiling at the camera. Their hands are folded in front of them.

  • Hi, my name is Vanessa and I am a board-certified music therapist at The Sonatina Center. I am a descendent of white colonizers. I am a non-binary/genderfluid, queer, able-bodied, and neurodivergent person living on unceded Penacook and Wabanaki land.

    I graduated from Berklee College of Music in 2020 with a degree in Music Therapy and a minor in Psychology. I obtained my 200-hour yoga teacher training certification in July 2021, and completed my music therapy internship at The Sonatina Center in June 2022. I was hired to stay on the team as a music therapist, and have been developing my practice here since then!

    I am most passionate about community music therapy and using music, art, and movement to work towards mental health goals with individuals of all ages. In my life, I have always used music intuitively to express myself, process emotions and events, and feel more grounded in the present moment. Humans have used music to share stories, express emotions, and build community for thousands of years, and I feel it is a part of our nature to connect with music in these ways. I aim to reduce mental health stigmas by being open about my own experiences and facilitating spaces where people can come and create together, regardless of mental health status.

    Outside of therapy, I enjoy practicing yoga, hiking, being outside, writing songs, and being in community. I love nature and getting to know new people, as well as having lots of time alone to integrate all that this incredible journey that is being human brings.

  • MT-BC: Board-Certified Music Therapist

    RYT-200: Registered Yoga Teacher (200-Hours)

  • Bringing people together through music, movement, vulnerable expression, and creative arts is one of my greatest joys in life. I gravitate towards a client-centered approach to therapy, where participants can lead the way towards their own healing. I bring a mixture of music, art, movement, and creative writing to music therapy sessions, and I love guiding community drum circles. I am continuously amazed and inspired by the power of music to shift emotional states, to connect people of a wide variety of backgrounds, experiences, and identities, and to help us find meaning in our life experiences. I enjoy allowing the music to guide the session, staying curious, and improvising our way through whatever arises.