Faculty | J. Russell Couch

As an undergraduate student in English and Theatre at Berea College, I completed my senior thesis on Psychodrama and Drama Therapy. Many years later, after a brief career in the performing arts and advanced graduate work in Theatre, I decided to return to psychology. I completed my MS, Education Specialist, and PhD in Counseling Psychology from University of Kentucky in 2009, and have been very excited joining the faculty at The Sage Colleges.

My primary teaching appointment is in the graduate Counseling and Community Psychology program on the Albany campus, but will occasionally teach courses in the undergraduate programs. I look forward to teaching courses on research, theory, and practice of counseling and community psychology. The best hope for change in our clients comes not from our individual counseling alone, but also from the changes we enact in the community and in social policy. I always try to approach my teaching using the same idea.

My research and practice interests are in gender, human sexuality, and minority resilience. In 2007, my outreach work with men and boys in Central Kentucky and with the LGBT community were recognized with an award by the American Psychological Association Division 51. I also remain very faithful to the visual and performing artsthey are powerful aspects of our culture. That is why I enjoy working with groups using psychodrama and drama therapy, and hope to continue that work here in the Capital District.