Courses & Workshops
Workshop: Rebuild Your Relationship with Music
Many survivors of cults, high-control groups, and the troubled teen industry often have complex emotional associations with music due to their experiences in these environments.
This workshop, held online over four weeks during weekly sessions, helps you understand and reshape that relationship, using music as a tool for safety, expression, and positive integration.
Led by board-certified music therapist Dorian Wallace, MT-BC, the workshop provides practical, structured approaches to help you reconnect with music in a grounded and empowering way. No prior experience is required.
Format: 6 live online sessions
Dates: Â Monday, 15 June – 20 July (each Monday for 6 weeks)
Time: 8:00 PM (EST) / 5:00 PM (PST)
Cost: US$50 USD
Scholarships: Email info@lalichcenter.org to apply
Course Curriculum
Session 1: Establishing safety and grounding
Create a safe, structured environment to explore your current relationship with music.
Activities: guided listening, grounding exercises, discussion
Sessions 2–3: Building positive associations
Identify your music preferences and begin forming supportive, positive connections.
Activities: audio-biography, playlist building, therapeutic songwriting
Sessions 4–5: Reframing challenging associations
Work through difficult responses and develop alternative ways of engaging with music.
Activities: improvisation, gradual exposure, reframing exercises
Session 6: Integration and future use
Consolidate positive associations and create a sustainable plan for everyday life.
Activities: sharing audio-biography, personal music toolkit, integration planning
What you’ll gain
- A clearer understanding of your personal associations with music
- Tools to reduce distress linked to past experiences
- New ways to engage with music safely and positively
- A personalised approach to integrating music into daily life
About the Coordinator
Dorian Wallace is a composer, pianist, and board-certified music therapist whose work explores music’s capacity for healing, connection, and social change. His practice combines contemporary composition, free improvisation, and trauma-informed approaches to create emotionally resonant experiences across clinical and community settings.
He has collaborated with artists including Paul Pinto and Pamela Z, and co-founded the NYC-based new music collective Tenth Intervention. His music engages with sociopolitical and psychological themes, drawing on experimental and expressionist traditions.
Dorian’s therapy work includes correctional facilities, hospice care, and survivors of cults through the Lalich Center. He developed a Liberation Music Therapy framework, presented internationally, and leads workshops for activists and individuals transitioning out of insular communities.
To learn more about Dorian, visit his website dorianwallace.com
Testimonials
Being in a group with people who shared similar experiences felt deeply validating. Dorian came across as thoughtful, grounded, and genuinely understanding. Before the workshop, I hadn’t considered music as something shaped by my experience. I now recognise how it was used in ways that influenced and conditioned me. I would strongly recommend this workshop to other survivors of coercive control.
Dorian’s clear boundaries, set at the outset and maintained throughout, made the group’s parameters easy to understand. It was helpful that he explicitly defined what the group was—and was not. His empathetic responses and validation of participants’ contributions created a supportive atmosphere. The small group format ensured everyone had space to share, and the break-out rooms worked particularly well. Hearing others’ experiences encouraged me to reconnect with music—something I hadn’t engaged with for some time—and that has been both helpful and enjoyable. Witnessing the group’s shared trauma, and recognising similar stories, was deeply validating.
It was perfect. I’m grateful I had the opportunity to attend one of these events. The live experience helped me understand how my own story fits alongside those of other survivors.
It’s time to reconnect with music
Registration is now open. These sessions explore and support the healing of your relationship with music—helping to transform difficult associations into experiences that feel grounding, positive, and empowering.