Carolina Music Therapy, LLC: Alison Hughey, MT-BC

Carolina Music Therapy, LLC: Alison Hughey, MT-BC Using music to enrich lives, connect community and reach goals in the Spartanburg, SC area. I turned to an old friend to help me cope with the pain: Music.

As Willie Nelson sings, “The life I love is making music with my friends.”

Whether it be singing in the car with my husband on our road trips, making up songs for our dogs (Mila and Tater), facilitating music therapy sessions or virtual retreats, leading group singalongs, or performing with the Sally Rides, music is my jam (side note: I’m also a fan of song quotes and puns). My greatest passion is helping people connect and heal with compassion through our dearest mutual friend: Music. Music can help us feel seen and heard, feel connected with strangers who like the same band, connect us through time to our history, connect us to our faith, and physically bring us together in listening to a performance or making music in a group. A few years after graduating with a degree in music performance from Converse College in 2003, I experienced a back injury. I found myself tapping out rhythms, humming, and singing to distract myself and find hope again. I soon met one of the first students in the newly established Bachelor of Music in Music Therapy program at Converse, and decided to return and complete the program. Since earning my board certification (MT-BC) in 2010, I’ve continued to perform around upstate South Carolina while working as a music therapist in long term care, mental health, and community settings. I’ve collaborated on two published research studies on music and wellness for community mental health and long term care. In 2018 I founded Carolina Music Therapy, my music therapy private practice based in Spartanburg, SC. In addition to offering clinical music therapy services and adaptive music lessons, I also share resources on music in self-care for mental health at Compose Your Self Care and offer creative self care workshops.

09/23/2025

You are not a puzzle to be solved.

Therapy isn’t one size fits all.
09/22/2025

Therapy isn’t one size fits all.

Most gifted or multi-exceptional clients don’t arrive in therapy confused about why they’re struggling.

They’ve already mapped the terrain. They’ve connected the dots. They’ve read the books. Listened to the podcasts. Sat with the spirals.
They’re not lacking insight. They’re drowning in it.

What they need is something else entirely.
✨ A somatic anchor — for nervous systems running on overdrive
✨ An existential container — for meaning-making and grief
✨ A relational mirror — to unlearn being “too much”
✨ A creative space — for the parts that don’t speak in words
✨ A flexible rhythm — that spirals with them, not against them

Giftedness often intersects with trauma and other forms of neurodivergence. That means healing isn’t linear. It’s layered. And therapy must stretch to hold that complexity — not flatten it to fit the model.

🌿 Let’s move beyond the one-size-fits-all framework. Because for some of us, insight isn’t the beginning. It’s the bind.

📖 Read the full blog: Link in bio.

09/21/2025
Happy International Peace Day ☮️
09/21/2025

Happy International Peace Day ☮️

Excited to learn from Dr. Carpente! If you’re interested in joining us, visit Music Therapy Association of South Carolin...
09/20/2025

Excited to learn from Dr. Carpente!

If you’re interested in joining us, visit Music Therapy Association of South Carolina for details. Non music therapists are welcome to attend. 5 CMTE credits available for MT-BCs.

I’m honored to be invited by Converse University to present to their students, faculty and the Music Therapy Association of South Carolina on October 4th.

My talk, “Improvising Clinical Themes: Creating Form to Foster Self-Expression and Agency,” will explore the roles of musical themes and form in Music therapy practice.

This event is also a continuing education opportunity for music therapists and part of the celebration of 20 years of the Music Therapy degree program at Converse University.

Thank you to Dr. Carol Shultis and the Converse Music Therapy Department for this invitation.

I’m so excited to return to LEAF Global Arts as a healing arts facilitator! This year marks 30 years of Leaf’s mission, ...
09/19/2025

I’m so excited to return to LEAF Global Arts as a healing arts facilitator!

This year marks 30 years of Leaf’s mission, which is needed more than ever:
🍁
CONNECTING CULTURES and CREATING COMMUNITY through world music, arts education, preservation and experiences. The closest distance between two people is a story, a song, or a dance.

Get tickets and see the line up of performers from around the world here:

https://theleaf.org

09/19/2025
09/18/2025

Address

Spartanburg, SC
29306

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 5pm
Tuesday 8am - 5pm
Wednesday 8am - 5pm
Thursday 8am - 5pm
Friday 8am - 5pm
Saturday 8am - 5pm
Sunday 8am - 5pm

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