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Meet the Founder

Sarah Woolson, LPC, LPMT, MT-BC

Mental Health Counselor • Music Therapist • Therapeutic Sound Practitioner

I believe deeply in the power of music to change us, support us, connect us, and help us move through the experiences that shape our lives.

For me, music has never been separate from the work of caring for people. It has been the thread running through it.

The Listening Collective brings together my work as a mental health counselor, music therapist, and therapeutic sound practitioner, three distinct areas of practice connected by a shared belief in listening, presence, creativity, and connection.

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A bit of my story

  • I became a music therapist because I knew two things about myself: I wanted to work with people and I loved music.

    I earned my Bachelor of Music in Music Therapy from Florida State University and became a board-certified music therapist in 2019. From the beginning, I was drawn to the ways music could become more than something we listen to or create. It could become a way to communicate, connect, cope, express, remember, and experience something together.

    I knew I wanted music to stay at the center of my work.

  • My dream music therapy job was in pediatric healthcare, and I was fortunate to spend several years working at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta.

    Working in pediatric healthcare taught me just how much music can hold. I saw music help young people cope with hospitalization, express and process experiences that were difficult to put into words, connect with their families, and find moments of comfort in incredibly difficult circumstances.

    I also began providing music therapy to adolescents experiencing behavioral and mental health crises and to teens navigating eating disorders.

    These experiences deepened my belief in what music can make possible.

  • My work with adolescents experiencing mental health challenges eventually led me to want a deeper understanding of mental health and of how people support themselves through difficult experiences.

    I wanted to walk with people through real-life challenges and the many experiences that shape how we understand ourselves and our lives.

    I earned my Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Mercer University and became a licensed counselor in 2024.

    Counseling gave me another way to do the work I had already come to love: to sit with people in difficult places, to listen deeply, and to help create space for understanding and meaningful change.

    And I knew from the beginning that music would remain part of that work.

  • The Listening Collective grew from the realization that these parts of my professional life don't need to compete with one another.

    Music therapy taught me to listen through music, to notice what music makes possible and to use it intentionally in service of a person's goals.

    Counseling taught me to listen more deeply to the whole person, to emotions, relationships, history, patterns, identities, questions, and the experiences that don't always have words.

    Therapeutic sound offers another way to create space for rest, presence, and connection.

    The services are distinct, but the thread connecting them is the same:

    Listening → Awareness → Connection → Meaningful Change

    That is the foundation of The Listening Collective.

A practice rooted in listening.

Listening is at the heart of how I work.

I don't believe people need to be fixed into a particular shape. I believe there is value in slowing down enough to notice what is here, to listen to ourselves, to one another, and to the experiences we may not yet fully understand.

Sometimes that listening happens through conversation, through music, through sound and stillness. Sometimes it happens simply by being together.

My role is not to tell you who you should become. It is to create spaces where you can listen more closely, understand yourself and your experience more deeply, and discover what becomes possible from there.

Clinical experience

My professional background has taken me into many different spaces where people are navigating change, growth, and finding connection.

I've worked in:

  • Pediatric healthcare and intensive care

  • Behavioral and mental health settings

  • Grief and bereavement organizations

  • Schools and educational settings

  • Treatment centers

  • Private practice

  • Community settings

  • Professional and organizational environments

Education & Training

Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling
Mercer University

Bachelor of Music in Music Therapy
Florida State University

Specialized Training

My music therapy training includes specialized work in:

  • Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) music therapy

  • Neurologic music therapy

  • Evidence-based practice

Professional Credentials

Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC)
Georgia

Licensed Professional Music Therapist (LPMT)
Georgia

Board-Certified Music Therapist (MT-BC)

From my work

You're welcome here

Wherever you're starting, you don't have to have everything figured out. Whether you're looking for counseling, exploring music therapy, interested in therapeutic sound, or hoping to create something together, there's a place to begin.

I'm glad you're here.

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