04/13/2026
There was something deeper happening on stage at Coachella this year, and if you were paying attention, you could feel it.
There were so many moments at Coachella that may have felt healing because this is simply something that music does - it heals us. Music has a way of meeting us exactly where we are, putting words (and feelings) to things we didnât even know how to name.
For this post, we want to focus on two moments that stood out through a therapistâs lens.
Justin Bieberâs performance felt less like a show and more like a moment of inner child healing unfolding in real time. The vulnerability, the softness, the way he allowed himself to feel - thatâs what it looks like to reconnect with parts of yourself that were once silenced, hurt, or pushed aside. Inner child work doesnât always entail quiet self-reflection, sometimes itâs expressed through art, music, sharing in community, and being witnessed exactly as you are.
And then there was Karol G - powerful, grounded, and unapologetically herself - and the first Latina to headline Coachella. Her performance carried a message of pride, ancestry, resilience, and cultural identity. She took a moment to acknowledge those who paved the way for her to stand on that stage as a headliner, reminding us that our achievements are rarely ours alone. She also named something heavier, the hate and discrimination that continues to impact her community, bringing visibility to pain that is often minimized or ignored. Karol responded with pride, with love, and with a deep connection to her culture. Not as denial of the pain, but as a form of resistance and healing. A reminder that even in the face of adversity, there is power in honouring where you come from and choosing to lead with love.
Moments like these remind us that healing doesnât happen in isolation. It happens in community, in representation, in music that puts words to things we didnât know how to say.
A music festival might not look like traditional therapy, but that doesnât mean it isnât therapeutic.
