Vienna Pharaon is a licensed marriage and family therapist, author of The Origins of You, and one of the most followed therapists on Instagram. She also played violin at Whitney Houston's wedding!

If you've ever wondered why you keep choosing the same relationships, reacting the same way, or feeling stuck no matter how much work you've done, this episode is the answer. May is Mental Health Awareness month, and all month we’ll focus on helping you understand why you feel what you feel, and what to do about it.

TRY THIS: Think about a pattern in your life you're tired of repeating. Now ask yourself – what is that pattern trying to protect you from? That's where your origin wound lives. Take Vienna's quiz at theoriginsofyou.com to find out which one is yours.

🎵 May Playlist - Songs That Hold the Feeling For You

**And if you want something more specific, email me, tell me what you’re dealing with, and I’ll send you a song

Free workshop Sun May 17: https://mct.hestaprynn.com/may17

📖 The Origins of You by Vienna Pharaon · Vienna on Instagram

What's Your Origin Wound FREE quiz: https://1wsm6geg69z.typeform.com/to/d981R7Cl?typeform-source=viennapharaon.com

www.newyorkcouplescounseling.com

https://courses.viennapharaon.com/the-origin-healing-method

Find the show: Substack · Instagram · musicistherapypod@gmail.com

Send this to the person who always says they're fine. You know exactly who.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Heidi Hartwig has been building community her whole life. As the creator of Friends from New York, she shares why nightlife isn't a luxury - it's medicine. In a world where AI is doing more and screens are replacing everything, this conversation is about why getting into a room with strangers - no phones, just music and people - might be the most important thing you can do for yourself right now.

This is my April theme: community, and what it actually takes to find your people when the whole world is on a screen.

TRY THIS: Find one song, one artist, one scene that makes you feel like yourself. It doesn't have to be a party. It can be a movie club, a backgammon night, a tiny show. Just go.

April Playlist – Songs That Make Everyone Best Friends for Three Minutes Friends from New York

Find the show: Substack · Instagram · musicistherapypod@gmail.com

Send this to the friend who always knows the right song for the moment.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Shervin Lainez has photographed the biggest musicians alive (Adele, St. Vincent, David Byrne) and he did it by walking up to artists in New York alleys with no portfolio and a lot of nerve. I met him when he was 22 and shooting indie bands for free, he took life-changing photos of me at the Chelsea Hotel, and watching him become the guy everyone wants to shoot them has been one of my favorite things to witness.

Community is my April theme: who passed you around when you were nobody, and why that network of people who believed in you before you had proof is the thing you keep trying to find your way back to.

TRY THIS: Think about the first time someone paid you to do the thing you love. Remember how insane that felt. That feeling isn't gone, it's your baseline. Everything you're building now is trying to honor it, not recreate it.

April Playlist – Songs That Make Everyone Best Friends for Three Minutes

Shervin Lainez on Instagram

Free workshop Apr 18: mct.hestaprynn.com/april18

Find the show: Substack · Instagram · musicistherapypod@gmail.com

Send this to whoever's in the grind with you right now.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you've ever wondered why certain songs trigger emotions or memories — why Fleetwood Mac Rumors still hits in 2026, why Hallelujah makes strangers cry at weddings — Alan Light has spent his entire career finding the answer. As former editor-in-chief of Vibe and Spin, interviewer of Led Zeppelin, and author of books on the songs that outlive everything, he knows exactly why some music becomes medicine and some just becomes background noise.

This is my April theme: community — why certain songs and bands don't just last, they become a place people live. And what that tells us about why music heals the way nothing else does.

This episode is for anyone looking for their people.

TRY THIS: Think about the song or band that made you feel like you belonged somewhere for the first time. That feeling didn't go away — it just needs a room to live in. Where are you finding that room right now?

April Playlist – Songs That Make Everyone Best Friends for Three Minutes

Don't Stop: Why We Still Love Fleetwood Mac's Rumors · Sound Up! Podcast

Free workshop Apr 18: mct.hestaprynn.com/april18

Connect with DJ Hesta Prynn and the show:

Substack · Instagram · musicistherapypod@gmail.com

Send this to the person who made you a mixtape. You know exactly who.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Emmy-winning writer and One Song co-host Diallo Riddle has been building music community for years. We were blind DJ'd together at a corporate gig six years ago — no warning, no prep — and finally sat down to talk about it.

This is my April theme: community, where it actually lives, and why finding people who love what you love feels like coming home.

TRY THIS: Think of a song you've had strong opinions about for years. Someone out there feels the exact same way. That's your people.

🎵 April Playlist – Songs That Make Everyone Best Friends for Three Minutes
🎙️ One Song podcast | Diallo on Instagram

Free workshop Apr 18: mct.hestaprynn.com/april18
Find the show: Substack · Instagram · musicistherapypod@gmail.com

Send this to your music person. You already know who I mean.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This episode is for anyone who thinks they’re supposed to have it figured out by now.

I sat down with Nayeema Raza — journalist, filmmaker, and host of Smart Girl Dumb Questions — and what starts as a conversation about her award-winning show turns into something much deeper: identity, curiosity, attachment — and where your identity shows up… whether you’re aware of it or not.

Also… yes. We talk about sex playlists. And it’s not random.

In This Episode

• What winning a podcast award actually changes — and what it doesn't
• Individualism vs collectivism — how growing up across cultures shaped how she sees success, selfhood, and belonging
• What’s on your sex playlist — and why that question actually reveals way more about you than you think
• Why we attach to artists — why we attach to certain artists and what we’re actually projecting onto them.
• AI and attachment theory — what it means to relate to something that isn’t human
• Where we get our information — and how that shapes our worldview
• The difference between being stuck… and just being early

Songs of the Week

Counting Crows - Mr Jones: https://open.spotify.com/track/5DiXcVovI0FcY2s0icWWUu?si=f13d70c8b097483a

Harry Styles - Daydreaming: https://open.spotify.com/track/69w5X6uTrOaWM32IetSzvO?si=a41e9ecf16094d9c

The Monthly Playlist: "10 Songs That Made Me" This month, we aren’t looking for the "greatest hits." These are the songs that built my DNA. Now, I want yours. Email the 10 songs that made you who you are to musicistherapypod@gmail.com.Connect with Nayeema Raza

• follow on Nayeema’s podcast Smart Girl Dumb Questions
• and find her on IG @smartgirldumbquestions @nayeemaraza (look for Diplo pics!)

Connect With the Show

• Instagram: @hestaprynnmusic @musicistherapypod
• Substack: hestaprynn.substack.com
• Course: mct.hestaprynn.com

Email: musicistherapypod@gmail.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ever wonder why the music you loved as a teenager hits different (and always will)?

It's my birthday, so instead of interviewing someone else, I'm walking you through the 10 songs that made me — and you might start to hear your own story too.

You'll hear the exact way I use songs to connect intention + identity, and I'll coach you on how to create your own list.

COME TO THE LIVE SESSION I'm teaching a live Music Connection Therapy session on Zoom. We'll actually do this work together. Saturday March 21st 1PM EST https://mct.hestaprynn.com/bday-training

LINKS + RESOURCES

• Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3GNUTc0NnJVKVTsSfSbTKQ?si=b8cbc2e9534d4079
• Substack: https://hestaprynn.substack.com/
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/hestaprynnmusic

THE PLAYLIST: 10 SONGS THAT MADE ME

Listen here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3GNUTc0NnJVKVTsSfSbTKQ?si=e4425cbcf3774281

1. Night Swimming – R.E.M.
2. Gratitude – Beastie Boys
3. Yellow Ledbetter – Pearl Jam
4. Sonnet – The Verve
5. Rain On Me – Lady Gaga & Ariana Grande
6. Justify My Thug – Jay-Z
7. In the Light – Led Zeppelin
8. Where You Are – John Summit
9. You’re A Star – Fred again.. & Amyl and the Sniffers
   (yes, I said 10, no I don’t follow rules perfectly)

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ever wonder what a $1000/hr life coach can teach you?

In this installment of Music Is Therapy, DJ Hesta Prynn sits down with Lauren Zander—founder of the Handel Group, creator of The Handel Method, and the world-renowned coach who once told Hesta to throw money out of a moving car window.

Lauren has spent thirty years helping some of the highest-performing people on the planet—including Hugh Jackman and Questlove—build what she calls their Higher Self. Not as a vague spiritual concept, but as a rigorous daily practice.

We dive deep into the "Lower Self" vs. the "Higher Self," why your dreams feel threatening to your nervous system, and the difference between manifesting and “manifucking”—a term Lauren coined that you’ll never be able to unhear.

This episode is for anyone who has ever felt like their own brain is working against them.In This Episode, We Discuss:

• The Internal Dialogue: How to distinguish the voice of your Higher Self from the chatter of your Lower Self.
• The Default Brain: Why 80% of our thoughts are negative and 90% are repetitive—and how to break the loop.
• Manifesting vs. Manifucking: The shift from dream-based thinking to doom-based thinking.
• The Uplevel Sabotage: Why your brain tries to take you down right before a breakthrough.
• Promises & Consequences: Why willpower is a myth and consequences are the real key to integrity.
• The 30-Dollar Intervention: The story behind Hesta’s car window moment.
• The Songs that Saved Lauren

One Tool From the Episode: The Promise + Consequence Method

Lauren teaches that keeping promises to ourselves is often harder than keeping them to others because there is no external cost. Her fix? Assign a real consequence before you need it.

The consequence must "sting" enough to matter. It isn't a punishment; it’s a signal to your brain that your word is law.

• Hesta’s Version: One obsessive thought = $1 thrown out the car window.
• Lauren’s Version: Every time she screamed at her kids = $20 to anyone in earshot.
• The Daily Rule: No coffee until 30 pushups are done.

Music Connection Therapy: Birthday Class

March 21st | 1:00 PM EST | FREE | Zoom

It’s Hesta’s birthday month! To celebrate, Music Connection Therapy is opening its doors for a one-time, free session.

• The Vibe: One hour. Half writing, half dance party.
• The Goal: Pick one area of your life, name a dream, and anchor it to music.
• Note: Limited to the first 30 people. Register Here

The Monthly Playlist: "10 Songs That Made Me"

This month, we aren’t looking for Hesta’s "greatest hits." These are the songs that built her—the ones in the DNA. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3GNUTc0NnJVKVTsSfSbTKQ?si=16cf69742b094e26

Now, she wants yours. Make a list of the 10 songs (or any number!) that made you who you are and email them to musicistherapypod@gmail.com.

Connect with Lauren Zander

• Websites: handelgroup.com | inneru.com
• Instagram: @laurenzander_coach
• Book: Maybe It’s You

Connect With the Show

• Instagram: @hestaprynnmusic
• Substack: hestaprynn.substack.com

Email: musicistherapypod@gmail.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.