Conversation 42 - Psychodrama For Real Life

Send us Fan MailTalk therapy is powerful, but sometimes words are the slowest route to the truth. We sit down with Amanda Cole, LPCC-S, counselor educator, and doctoral candidate, to unpack psychodrama as an experiential action method that helps clients move from “thinking about it” to actually feeling it safely in the room. Amanda breaks down what psychodrama is (and what it is not), why warm-ups matter so much for pacing and containment, and how group cohesion makes deeper work possible without turning therapy into a performance.From there, we get extremely practical about telehealth counseling. Amanda shares how to adapt sociometry, spectrograms, and even empty chair work to online groups using features like renaming, chat, shared whiteboards, and collaborative tools. We also talk about why telehealth is not a one-to-one copy of in-person therapy, and how changing expectations can open up new ways to build rapport and engagement rather than getting stuck comparing formats.If you work with youth, this conversation is packed with real, usable ideas for online child and adolescent therapy: normalizing movement, planning multiple backup activities, using virtual sand tray and shared screen games, sending a “therapy box” packet, doing room tours for clinical context, and using music and playlists to connect with teens. We also connect psychodrama principles to counselor supervision and training, including role reversal for empathy and doubling to name what might be unspoken. Subscribe, share this with a colleague, and leave a review with the creative intervention you want to try next.OCA Link Tree: https://linktr.ee/ohiocounselingConnect with Us on Any/All Socials at our Link Tree!If you’re a counselor in Ohio and would like to get involved as part of production or as a guest, or know someone who might be interested, please email us at [email protected]!****Created by the OCA's Media, Public Relations, and Membership (MPRM) Committee & its Podcast Subcommittee·Hosted by Marisa Cargill·Pre-Production & Coordination by Marisa Cargill, Victoria Frazier, and Shannon O'Mara·Editing by Marisa Cargill·Original music selections by Elijah Satoru Wood