Richard A. Cohen


Richard A. Cohen, M.A. is a psychotherapist, educator, and author of five books including his latest release, Healing Heterosexuality: Time, Touch and Talk. He is the director of Positive Approaches to Healthy Sexuality, and the past director of the International Healing Foundation. Cohen offers his newest book as “a blueprint for the healing of humanity.” In it he presents the principles of emotional healing, healthy attachment, and unconditional love that he discovered in his personal healing journey and applied to helping thousands of others in his career as a therapist, coach, and facilitator.

Biography

Cohen hails from a Jewish family and was both Bar Mitzvahed and Confirmed at a Jewish synagogue in Philadelphia. While attending Boston University, he became an evangelical Christian, and later joined the Unification Church. In 1980, Cohen married Jae Sook, a South Korean woman, and in 1995, Cohen and his family left the Unification Church and returned to their Christian roots.
Cohen lived a gay life in his undergraduate years at Boston University. His dream was to marry a woman and create a loving family. He sought professional help to resolve his unwanted same-sex attractions and fulfill that dream. Cohen discovered that most therapists either didn’t have a clue how to help him, or simply told him he was born that way and to embrace a gay life.
Pursuing his dream for marriage led to an exhaustive search for answers. Cohen discovered the root causes of his same-sex attractions, and began to resolve each underlying issue with the help of therapy, family, friends, and faith. He dedicated the rest of his life to promote healing and wholeness for those who struggled as he had, and for all people regardless of their race, religion, ethnicity, gender identity, or sexual orientation.
Cohen lives in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area with his wife of forty years. Together, they are the parents of three adult children.

Education

Cohen received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Boston University and a Master of Arts degree in Counseling Psychology from Antioch University. In Seattle, Washington, he worked for the American Red Cross as an HIV/AIDS educator and authored a statewide curriculum for child-care provider and foster parents.

Career

International Healing Foundation / Positive Approaches to Healthy Sexuality

Cohen founded the International Healing Foundation in 1990, a nonprofit organization, to assist those who experience unwanted same-sex attraction through Sexual Orientation Therapy. IHF was dissolved in 2015. In 2003, Cohen co-founded Positive Approaches to Healthy Sexuality, which promotes "the individual's right of self-determination, and equality, tolerance and diversity for all views of sexuality and gender identity." Cohen has said, "If someone wants to live a gay life, that needs to be respected. If someone wants to resolve unwanted same-sex attraction, that too needs to be respected. Let us practice true tolerance, real diversity, and equality for all."
While he was a psychotherapist in Washington State, Cohen was a registered counselor. During his therapeutic practice in Maryland, there was no licensure requirement for counselors until the time he was transitioning to full time teaching. Over the past twelve years, Cohen has trained over 6,000 psychologists, psychotherapists, physicians, and ministry leaders throughout the USA, Latin America, Europe, and the Middle East.

Expulsion from the ACA

In 2002, Cohen was permanently expelled from the American Counseling Association, after it accused him of six violations of its ethics code, which bars members from actions which "seek to meet their personal needs at the expense of clients, those that exploit the trust and dependency of clients, and for soliciting testimonials or promoting products in a deceptive manner."
Noting that the ACA is a non-licensing trade organization, and that his expulsion was based upon a single complaint, Cohen did not appeal the ACA decision. He claimed that the action was entirely for his efforts in the ex-gay movement, specifically for the book Coming Out Straight. He called the ACA "a biased organization," and asked, "Why would I want to be in a totally gay-affirming club?"

Healing Heterosexuality: Time, Touch and Talk (TTT)

In March, 2019, Cohen published Healing Heterosexuality: Time, Touch and Talk , a blueprint for the healing of humanity. In the TIME section, Cohen provides helpful exercises for personal, family, and community healing. He lays out a clear plan to resolve childhood wounds. In the TOUCH section, Cohen teaches about the science of healthy touch, how we have sexualized our core needs for bonding, belonging, and connection, then provides skills to both give and receive healthy touch to foster great intimacy in one’s life, and in the life of our families. In the TALK section, Cohen provides practical communication skills for both sharing and listening.
TTT is spearheading the resolution of a porn pandemic, divorce, affairs, and abuse. Cohen maintains that "all unwanted behaviors are driven by hurts in the heart that have not healed, and unmet love needs," and suggests that TTT may facilitate healing and "help create more loving, intimate relationships."

Media appearances">American College of Pediatricians">appearances

Cohen has given numerous interviews in newspapers, on radio shows, and on television shows, including Jimmy Kimmel Live, Rachel Maddow, 20/20, Larry King Live, and Paula Zahn Now. In 2014, Cohen appeared in a documentary by Blackstone Films entitled "The Third Way: Homosexuality and the Catholic Church."
Cohen was interviewed by Jason Jones on the March 19, 2007, episode of The Daily Show. Cohen was on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on June 28, 2006, was interviewed on The Rachel Maddow Show on December 8, 2009, and was on The Michelangelo Signorile Show on the Sirius radio network on April 17, 2010.

Books written