Richard A. Cohen

For other persons of the same name, see Richard Cohen.

Richard Cohen (born 1952) is a writer and reparative therapist^[1], assisting men and women^[2] with unwanted same-sex attractions.^[1] He has been called one of America's leading practitioners of conversion therapy.^[3] Cohen gives lectures and runs seminars and workshops where he sells his self-published books.^[1] Cohen's theories disagree with the mainstream medical view of sexual orientation,^[4] and the national Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) strongly opposes the use of holding techniques.^[5]

Cohen lives in Washington, D.C. with his family.^[6] He offers commercial teleconferencing classes on topics such as "assist[ing parents] help their children who experience same-sex attractions... [to] heal and fulfill their innate heterosexual potential" and "present[ing]... a clear and comprehensive plan for transitioning from a homosexual to a heterosexual orientation."^[7] He also travels on a lecture circuit discussing similar topics.^[8]

Biography

A family friend repeatedly molested Cohen when he was 6 years old.^[1] Cohen said that this provided the affection he craved from his father, and that he repressed the memories of molestation until he was 30 and in therapy. He was openly and actively gay while attending Boston University as an undergraduate, but spent years in intensive psychiatric treatment trying to change his sexual orientation,^[1] beginning psychotherapy twice weekly with a traditional Freudian psychoanalyst.^[9]

For 20 years Cohen was a member of the Unification Church^[1] whose leader, Sun Myung Moon stated that homosexuals are "like dirty dung eating dogs."^[10] Cohen married a woman of the same religion in 1982.^[1] He left the Unification Church in 1995,^[6] and has said that "If someone wants to live a gay life, that needs to be respected. If someone wants to change and come out straight, that too needs to be respected. Let us practice true tolerance, real diversity, and equality for all."^[2]

After two of his three children were born, Cohen began an affair with a man in New York whom he described as his "boyfriend" and whom he frequently traveled to see. The affair lasted three years.^[1] Cohen references this time as a period of turmoil that led him to pursue healing from his past.^[11] He states that he changed his sexual orientation from gay to straight and cites his own experiences as proof that a person's sexuality can change and that gay people are not born as such but rather become so through complex life experiences.

Education

Cohen earned a Bachelor of Arts from Boston University, and a Master of Arts degree in counseling psychology from Antioch University.

Work

Before practicing reparative therapy, Cohen worked in child abuse treatment services, family reconciliation services, and as an HIV/AIDS educator for the American Red Cross.^[6]

He is not licensed as a therapist, because he said he "didn't want to jump through the hoops and deal with the heterophobia and anti-ex-gay attitudes." Cohen avoids State licensing requirements by asking for donations to his foundations instead of payment.^[1]

Permanent expulsion from the American Counseling Association

In 2002 Cohen was permanently expelled from the American Counseling Association for 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."^[1]^[12]

Cohen said he believes the expulsion was for his efforts in the ex-gay movement, specifically for the book Coming Out Straight, and for one complaint. He did not appeal, calling the ACA "a biased organization"^[13] and "gay-affirming club."^[1]

Certified sexual reorientation coach

For a while, Cohen described himself as a "Certified Sexual Reorientation Coach". He was the only one in the world, and the only certifier as well. He certifies other people through a four-weekend training program that costs $1400.^[14]

Media appearances

Cohen debated Wayne Besen, a gay rights advocate, on television in 2005. Cohen later advanced his theories on Penn and Teller's show Bullshit!,^[15] on shock jock Howard Stern's radio program,^[16] and on Paula Zahn's CNN program (see image). Following his appearance on Paula Zahn, NARTH issued a statement opposing "holding therapy" as a therapeutic approach.^[17]

Cohen was then interviewed by Jason Jones on the March 19, 2007 episode of The Daily Show. Cohen later apologized for this appearance and asked for donations to help him hire a PR agent.^[18] After this appearance Exodus International issued a position statement distancing themselves from him.^[19] Cohen was, for a time, the president of PFOX.^[20]

Beliefs about sexual orientation

Cohen hugging a male client as part of his "holding" technique.

Cohen's 2001 book Coming Out Straight calls homosexuality a "same-sex attachment disorder" and details his methods of sexual reorientation therapy, including his theory of the causes of same-sex attraction, his methods of changing sexual orientation, and stories of people who have undergone his therapies.

Cohen describes the "hidden meanings" of same-sex attraction as:

need for same-sex parent's love
need for gender identification
fear of intimacy with the opposite sex^[21]

Cohen claims several root causes of same-sex attraction including heredity; temperament; family dynamics; "wounds" from a parent or sibling; social, peer, or cultural "wounds"; body image "wounds"; and sexual abuse. Cohen employs as many as 22 techniques including family systems therapy, cognitive therapy, meditation and affirmations, "inner child healing," and journaling.

One of the techniques he uses, bioenergetics, involves physical exercises that is purported to facilitate the resurgence of repressed feelings. The International Institute for Bioenergetic Analysis states that this activity allows the client to confront and process these feelings, working towards forgiveness and reconciliation.^[1]^[22] He demonstrated this by smashing a tennis racket into a pillow while screaming "Mom! Why did you do that to me?". Another, holding therapy, involves cuddling and repeating affirming words to attempt to establish healthy, non-sexual male bonding that may have been absent during childhood.^[23]

Medical view of conversion therapy

Main article: Conversion therapy#Mainstream medical view on changing sexual orientation

The medical and scientific consensus is that reparative therapy is potentially harmful and that there is no evidence that it is effective.^[24]^[4]^[25] No mainstream medical organization endorses reparative therapy.^[4] The ethics guidelines of these organizations discourage, and sometimes prohibit, its practice.^[26] NARTH, a marginalized mental health organization, disputes the mainstream view.^[24]

Books written

Cohen, R. Alfie's Home (1993) ISBN 0-9637058-0-6, self-published.
Cohen, R. Coming Out Straight (2001) ISBN 1-886939-41-1, Oakhill Press, equity publisher.
Cohen, R. Gay Children, Straight Parents: A Plan for Family Healing (2006) ISBN 0-9637058-2-2, self-published.