Today we’d like to introduce you to Dr. Stacy Jagger.
Dr. Stacy, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I’m a Nashville native, a mother of four, a marriage and family therapist, and an artist at heart. Most people know me as Dr. Sassy.
Before any of those titles, I was a little girl who loved to dance.
I grew up with a lot of instability. Music, movement, creativity, and being outdoors gave me places to breathe. My family couldn’t always afford dance lessons, and years later, I learned that someone had anonymously helped make it possible for me to continue. I never found out all the details.
I wish I could thank that person. Instead, I’m trying to pass that kindness along.
I became a licensed marriage and family therapist and founded Music City Family Therapy. Over the years, my work expanded into writing, supervising therapists, developing programs for parents, and speaking to audiences about how we relate to ourselves and one another.
I also founded Advocate for the Creative Child to help children access therapeutic care and creative opportunities when cost stands in the way.
For a long time, I thought I needed to keep the different parts of myself in separate rooms: the therapist, the artist, the mother, the advocate. Today, I’m letting them work together.
Sometimes that means a serious conversation about a family’s struggles. Sometimes it means helping a room full of adults remember how to play. And sometimes, yes, there will be dancing.
The connection is personal: I know what it meant for someone to make room for my creative heart. I want to help make that room for others—and remember that I still belong there, too.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Smooth? No. I have taken the scenic route, including a few roads I would not recommend.
Growing up with instability taught me to be resourceful and determined. I learned how to work hard, read a room, and keep going. Those abilities helped me build a practice. They also made it easy to become the person who could handle everything.
Being able to carry something doesn’t always mean you should keep carrying it.
That has been a significant lesson for me, especially while building a business and raising four children. I’ve had to learn that caring deeply about people does not make me responsible for everyone’s well-being. And knowing how to help others doesn’t mean I automatically know how to receive help myself.
I’m still learning to protect the things that keep me well: my family, spiritual life, movement, creativity, and relationships where I can simply be Stacy.
I’m proud of my work. I also want to have enough of myself left to enjoy dinner with my family, take a dance class, or sit outside without turning it into a productivity exercise.
I want the life I’m encouraging other people to build to be a life I’m actually practicing.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m a licensed marriage and family therapist and a Registered Play Therapist-Supervisor. I work with children, adults, couples, and families, and I train and supervise other therapists.
I’m especially interested in what happens between people.
When a child is struggling, for example, I want to understand that child’s experience and the world around them. What happens when the family is under stress? How do people respond to one another? What keeps repeating, even though everyone wants things to change?
Parents often arrive exhausted and afraid they’ve failed. I want to help them get curious enough to see possibilities they couldn’t see while they were simply trying to get through the day.
That way of looking at relationships informs Catalytic Family Therapy, the approach I’m developing and teaching. It also shapes my speaking and coaching with leaders. A workplace and a family have different responsibilities, but in both settings, how we show up affects the people around us.
What sets me apart is how naturally creativity enters the work. I may use play, movement, humor, storytelling, or an unexpected question to help people discover something. Adults need opportunities to experiment and reconnect, too.
I’m most proud of the changes that happen after someone leaves the room: a parent pauses before reacting, a couple has a different conversation, or a child feels safe enough to say what has been difficult to express.
Those moments are why I do this.
There are several doors into my work, depending on what someone needs.
Music City Family Therapy is our clinical practice serving children, adults, couples, and families in the Brentwood and Franklin area. We help people navigate challenges while paying attention to their relationships, experiences, and strengths. I also supervise and train therapists, which is one of the most meaningful ways I can help more families than I could ever see myself.
Through Dr. Sassy, I offer speaking, workshops, and coaching for parents, clinicians, and organizational leaders. I’m the author of 30-Day Blackout and creator of the Mountain Method, a framework for helping parents strengthen connection and make changes at home.
My speaking framework, The Catalytic Shift, offers three invitations: Turn Off, Turn In, and Turn It Up. Reclaim some of your attention. Notice what is happening within you. Then give your energy to what matters most.
For a parent, that might begin with putting the phone down and listening. For a leader, it might mean noticing the tension they’re carrying before entering a difficult conversation. These are small choices, but they affect other people.
Advocate for the Creative Child carries the mission into the community, helping children access therapeutic care and creative opportunities such as dance, music, art, and creative writing. I want more children to have someone recognize an interest or ability and help them pursue it.
I also bring these conversations into storytelling and media through The Dr. Sassy Show.
What makes me proud of the brand is that it gives me room to bring my whole self to the work. I can draw on my clinical experience, tell the truth about something hard, and still invite people to laugh or dance.
Whether someone comes to us for therapy, invites me to speak, or supports a child’s creative opportunity, I want them to feel that there is a place for them here.
Readers can explore our work at www.musiccityfamilytherapy.com and www.drstacyjagger.com.
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
As a Nashville native, I love being in a city where people understand the need to create. Someone is writing a song after work, rehearsing for a community production, opening a small business, or teaching a child to play an instrument. I have so much affection for people who keep making something they believe in, even before anyone is paying attention.
Some of my favorite experiences here are the ones where creativity becomes community: a dance floor, a local theater production, live music, or a gathering where people put their phones down and enjoy being together.
What I like least is how expensive it has become to belong here. I worry about families, artists, and small-business owners being priced out of the communities they help make special.
I want us to keep supporting the local places where people know our names—and to make sure children growing up here have opportunities to participate in the creative life our city celebrates.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.drstacyjagger.com/
- Instagram: thedrsassyjagger
- Facebook: Dr.Sassy.Nashville
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-stacyjagger-nashville
- Youtube: DrStacyJagger
