Stories and Songs from our Music Therapy Retreats

Music Therapy Retreats, once known as Music Therapy of the Rockies, offers evidence-based music therapy practices to help veterans and others suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

We conduct music therapy retreats at no cost to participants, allowing them to find mental wellness through music. Our retreats include goal setting, mindfulness, songwriting with professional songwriters, and adapted guitar instruction as part of our best practices.

Our approach helps individuals identify triggers, acquire self-regulation skills, and reframe their experiences.

Every veteran in the Retreat receives a Breedlove Guitar, using it to develop psychological and physiological skills through music.

About Dave Shatas and “Stevie”

I served in the Marine Corps in the 1980s and took a 20+-year break before re-enlisting in the Army Reserve in 2008. I was deployed twice to Afghanistan. I’m the first in my family to have served in combat.

My youngest daughter, Stevie, was only two when I went to Afghanistan for the first time. She was so young that when I came back home she didn’t really remember me. That hits you hard. I remember picking her up and holding her, doing all the funny things I used to do with her, and I could see when it snapped back into place for her. It brought her back to me. After that, you couldn’t separate us.

Now, Stevie is 16. She grew up in a world of social media and COVID, and she’s a quiet kid. As your kids grow, you have to keep figuring out how to communicate with them.

With Stevie, I use music to communicate. This song is my message to her, my way of letting her know how I feel about her. I had never written a song before. I was stunned at how Mark could take what I was feeling and put it to music. He had me crying the first time I heard it. I was just so happy. I couldn’t believe he took something I told him and made it sound so beautiful.

When I played it for Stevie, she cried. Every person in my family was in tears.

Stevie plays bass. I used to play guitar but hadn’t touched it in 15 years. Because Music Therapy of the Rockies got me to pick up a guitar again, Stevie and I play together now. It’s opened up a whole new avenue of connection with her.

Listen to a preview of Dave Shatas song with Mark Erelli here:

Support Mental Wellness for Veterans

Music Therapy Retreats has served more than 100 veterans and people suffering from PTSD at retreats in Tennessee, Colorado, Maryland, and beyond.

With just a $100 donation, you can receive this song — along with two full albums that give you an inside look at our retreats. The stories and songs compiled here highlight their experiences.

Listen to memories unfold, as the retreat attendee’s experiences are explored and captured in song.