No Permission Needed: Processing Pain through Creativity with Alicia Coppola

In this episode, Dre welcomes actor, writer, director and all around creator, Alicia Coppola, a woman whose artistry and honesty are inseparable from her healing. They reflect on meeting and circling in countless audition rooms, and how they intuitively unsubscribed from the narrative of competition and scarcity.

Alicia opens up about grief, loss, and how creating art has always been her way to understand and alchemize pain. She shares about her latest chapter: relocating her family to support her child's athletic dreams, giving away nearly everything she owned, and finding expansion in letting go. Together, Dre and Alicia explore what it means to parent with presence, how to let your children show you who they are and to truly listen.

We learn about Transmission Moms, a movement born from Alicia's desire to help families and the medical community better understand and support children navigating gender identity. Her mission is simple: to make sure every child feels heard, seen, and safe enough to live their authentic truth.

From The I'm Sorry Monologues to her work as a storyteller and advocate, Alicia reminds us that art is both medicine and message — a way to transform pain into purpose, and isolation into connection.

Follow: @Alicia_Coppola

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