Finding her rhythm: How music therapy helped Veteran heal from PTSD

The sound of healing from PTSD

When post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) made everyday life feel overwhelming, Sgt. RaMonica Felton found an unexpected source of healing: music.

The racing heart, emotional outbursts and stress that once defined her days have been replaced by something much different. Today, a familiar song helps her slow down, breathe and regain control.

Felton’s journey shows how music therapy for PTSD is helping Veterans find new ways to heal. At the G.V. (Sonny) Montgomery Veterans Affairs Medical Center, music therapy gives Veterans practical tools they can use long after they leave the therapy room, helping them manage symptoms and improve their quality of life.

“I realized I needed help when I couldn’t control my feelings and emotions anymore,” Felton said. “I was having outbursts that were affecting my everyday life.”

Felton joined the Mississippi Air National Guard in 2013 and currently serves in information protection. She deployed to Al Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates in 2021, but the effects of trauma began before her deployment and continued long afterward.

Finding calm through music

When Felton first learned about music therapy through VA, she wasn’t sure what to expect. What started as an unfamiliar treatment quickly became one of the most valuable tools in her recovery.

Working with a music therapist, she created playlists designed for different emotional moments. Gospel music helps her reflect and find comfort, while more energetic songs help meet her where she is before gradually easing her into a calmer state.

“If my heart is racing or pounding, it helps bring me from 100 back down to zero,” Felton said. “When my chest feels tight, it helps release that tension.”

Those playlists have become part of her daily routine. Whether she is driving, at work or spending time with her husband and four children, she has a coping tool she can use wherever life takes her. She says the skills she learned through therapy have strengthened her relationships and helped her better understand herself.

A different path to healing

Board-certified music therapist Jade Witt says music therapy offers Veterans another way to process difficult experiences, especially when finding the right words feels impossible.

“Music therapy is not music lessons,” Witt said. “It is a clinical service provided by a board-certified and licensed music therapist that uses music intentionally to help Veterans meet their treatment goals.”

Veterans do not need any musical experience to participate. Sessions may include songwriting, lyric discussions, guided relaxation, learning simple instruments or building personalized playlists that support emotional regulation, self-awareness and healthy coping skills.

Felton hopes sharing her story encourages other Veterans and service members to seek help and stay open to treatments they may not have considered.

Healing looks different for everyone, she said, and sometimes recovery begins with something as familiar as a favorite song.

For Felton, finding the right rhythm became the first step toward finding herself again.