We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Dr. Stacy Jagger. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Dr. Stacy below.
Dr. Stacy, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?
In my early 20s my second momma, Sue Ellen Cole, taught me to get down on my knees and give my life over to the care of a loving God, one day at a time. And to say “Thy will, not my will, be done.” And do the next right thing, like a lamp unto my feet. And I did that for a long time. I trained myself to be in touch with someone bigger than me. I just try to do the next right thing based on a still small voice inside of me somewhere.
If that sounds like the 12 steps from Alcoholics Anonymous, it’s because I grew up with an alcoholic father. I deal with the trauma of my father’s addictions and my violent childhood every single day. That trauma informs my work ethic and directs my passions for families and especially children.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
My name is Dr. Stacy Jagger and I’m on a mission to heal disconnection in children and families. I am the founder and clinical director of Music City Family Therapy, creator of the Mountain Method™ therapeutic protocol, and author of The 30 Day Blackout. Most of my clients appreciate my connection-based, rapid-results approach to relational and family challenges. I am quickly able to connect to the child within anyone and pride myself on boldly speaking hard truths with heart-centered humor. My clients love calling me by my nickname, “Dr. Sassy.”
In 2023, I founded Advocate for the Creative Child; a nonprofit organization that underwrites mental health care for underprivileged children and we are currently planning and building Creative Playhouses in underserved communities in Nashville, Tennessee.
Together with my husband, holistic naturopath Ron Jagger, we are the proud parents of four amazing children who are involved in sports, music, dance, and theater. In my free time, I can be found exploring the natural world, playing music with my children, or planning my next family adventure.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
I think #1 is my willingness to ask for help. When I was in college, at age 19, I realized that I needed serious clinical help and I drove to and checked myself into the Minirth Meier clinic. I was in a really dark place and knew I couldn’t keep going down that path. I had to get help.
I think #2 is utilizing creativity to serve you for your highest good. I know now that my creativity as a child is how I coped with my situation. And it’s that creativity I want to offer other children to deal with the stresses in their lives.
And definitely #3 is grit and sass. That’s what has made me a survivor and gotten me to where I am today. I’ve overcome a lot, and it’s made me a stronger person. And when I tell my story, it inspires other people. They can overcome just the same as I did.
If you knew you only had a decade of life left, how would you spend that decade?
It’s not really a challenge I’m facing. It’s a lot of exciting opportunities. I’m launching a course next year in 2025. It’s called The Mountain Method, which is a five-phase coaching process where families can go through the Mountain Method Protocol in their own home while I’m walking them through it. There will be steps they take on their own and then personal interaction with me as I coach them and answer their questions live. This way I can do group coaching for parents who have children with behavioral concerns, connection issues, ADHD, screen addiction and other issues.
We are also currently in the planning phase for a family camp for Barefoot Republic Camp. All of this is part of launching “Dr. Sassy” as a family therapist/coach, where I’m inspiring families, women, and moms to go through The Mountain Method process on their own. And I can encourage them to safeguard their kids from pornography by implementing parental controls on their kids’ phones. There are so many things that parents can do and will do to keep their kids safe. They just need to understand the dangers of unsupervised screen time and learn that they are capable of protecting their children.
My next chapter in life is about recognizing my God-given talents and all the skills that my challenging childhood equipped me with. I think God has called me to be very loud and proud about who I am, where I came from, my mission in life, raising money for children, growing Music City Family Therapy, and being a public figure under the name Dr. Sassy. And the mission of Dr. Sassy is to help children and families step away from the excessive use of screen time and get back into creativity and nature and true face-to-face connection.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://musiccityfamilytherapy.com, https://www.drsassy.com, https://www.themountainmethod.com, https://advocateforthecreativechild.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr.stacyjaggerakadr.sassy/, MusicCityFamilyTherapy
- Facebook: Dr. Stacy Jagger aka Dr. Sassy, Music City Family Therapy, Advocate For the Creative Child
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@DrStacyJagger
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