Stacey Surratt, MT-BC, LCAS, AADC, CCS, Business Development, Clinical Team Lead
How I support you in your recovery
If you’ve found yourself numbing — with substances, overworking, caretaking, staying busy, or emotionally disconnecting — you are not alone. Many of the individuals I support in therapy across North Carolina and South Carolina are navigating anxiety, codependent patterns, addiction recovery, or the deep exhaustion that comes from trying to hold everything together for everyone else.
I believe wholeheartedly that you are worthy of recovery — not just sobriety or symptom relief, but a life that feels connected, honest, and fulfilling. As a Licensed Clinical Addiction Specialist (LCAS) in North Carolina and Advanced Alcohol and Drug Counselor (AADC) in South Carolina, I provide trauma-informed addiction therapy that addresses the roots of substance use, people-pleasing, and chronic over-functioning. My role is to create a safe, steady space where you can gently explore what is no longer serving you and begin stepping toward what feels true. A space where you don’t have to perform, fix, or explain yourself perfectly. A space grounded in compassion and clinical integrity.
As a Board-Certified Music Therapist (MT-BC), I deeply trust the power of creative and experiential therapy to reach places that words alone cannot. Healing is not only cognitive — it is embodied. In our sessions, we may integrate music therapy, guided imagery, sound healing, EMDR, expressive arts, and other experiential practices to help you access and process what lives beneath the surface. These approaches support nervous system regulation and trauma recovery, allowing us to move beyond talking about change and into actually experiencing it from the inside out.
How I support you in building a relationship with self
When we are constantly numbing out, staying busy, caretaking others, or pushing feelings down, it becomes nearly impossible to feel grounded in who we are. Rebuilding that internal connection is tender work — and it requires safety.
In our work together, I support you in slowing down enough to notice your internal world without overwhelm. Through experiential exercises, nervous system awareness, and reflective practices, we build your capacity to:
- Recognize and name your emotions
- Understand what is creating dysregulation or triggering responses
- Stay present rather than numbing or self-medicating
- Develop coping strategies that are embodied instead of disconnected
My work is especially supportive for individuals healing from codependency, generational trauma, and Adult Children of Alcoholics (ACoA) patterns, as well as high-achieving adults who are tired of performing wellness but long to feel genuinely free.
The goal is not perfection. It is presence. It is learning to remain connected to yourself — even when life feels messy.
My recovery journey
My own anxiety and codependent patterns began early, shaped by generational dysfunction within my family of origin. I know what it feels like to feel invisible and overwhelmed — even in a room full of people.
I have sat in the therapy chair as a client. My early attempts at healing were sincere, but surface-level. It wasn’t until I became a wife and mother — when old patterns resurfaced in new ways — that I began the deeper, more honest work of trauma recovery. That journey includes being an active participant in my ACoA (Adult Children of Alcoholics and Dysfunctional Families) program and committing to sustained personal growth.
I do not sit across from you as someone who has it all figured out. I sit with you as someone who understands that healing is layered, cyclical, and courageous.
My Experience
I am a nationally Board-Certified Music Therapist (MT-BC), a Licensed Clinical Addiction Specialist (LCAS) in North Carolina, and an Advanced Alcohol and Drug Counselor (AADC) in South Carolina. I also serve as a Certified Clinical Supervisor (CCS) in both North Carolina and South Carolina.
In addition, I am a Certified Sound Healer and Certified MARI Practitioner, with advanced training in experiential and complementary therapeutic modalities, including EMDR therapy for trauma. I am also attuned to Level II in Holy Fire Reiki.
With over 15 years of experience in addiction treatment, trauma therapy, and experiential mental health care, I have worked across a variety of clinical settings supporting individuals in recovery. I received my master’s degree in Music Therapy from Radford University in 2011 and my undergraduate degree in Music Performance from Elon University in 2008. I joined The Healing Collective in 2022.
While credentials and clinical expertise matter, what matters most to me is how you feel in the room — safe, seen, respected, and supported.
More about me
I have been married to my soul complement for over a decade and am a mama to three beautiful children and a small animal menagerie. I am also a neurodivergent adult parenting a neurodivergent child, learning with compassion how that has shaped my story — and how to care for myself and my family more gently because of it.
I feel most restored outdoors, especially near water. I enjoy live music, creative projects, and often find myself joyfully hyperfocused on a new craft.
What Element Do You Resonate With?
Water is powerful, fluid, and ever-changing. It can erode what no longer serves and create space for something new. It holds both strength and surrender. When I need to come back to myself, I find water. It reminds me that healing does not have to be rigid — it can flow. And recovery, like water, can carve new pathways over time.
What’s Your Walk Out Song?
“Yellow year.” by Emmy Jo
stacey@healingcollectiveteam.com
(803) 216-1604