Cheryl Cohen, LCSW

Cheryl engages in therapeutic relationships with clients based on empathy, honesty, respect and trust. A non-judgmental viewpoint sets the tone for working together to address concerns that otherwise may be difficult to speak about. Cheryl believes it is a privilege to work with each and every person, and that the relationship developed between therapist and client is one of the keys to positive outcomes. She approaches therapy from a unique combination of traditional education and life experience. Cheryl has extensive training with evidence-based treatments including: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) skills, Family Systems Therapy, Strength Based Therapy, Trauma Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TB-CBT), Attachment Based Therapy, Emotionally Based Therapy, and Experiential Therapy. Psychoeducation is often used in providing an opportunity to gain insight and understanding. Cheryl understands we have all made mistakes or poor choices during our lives, or may be lacking insight or skills needed for a situation. Instead of self-criticism, shame or guilt, these can be teaching moments and learning opportunities that will create incremental shifts influencing change and transformation towards achieving your goals. Through empowerment, clients can embrace their strengths, and incorporate acceptance in their life. “You have to own it before you can change it and you have to clarify what it is before you can own it” is a truth that Cheryl has successfully applied to individuals of all ages and families seeking, serenity, peace, cohesion, and change.

Cheryl has experience working with clients of all ages presenting with challenges that include: crisis, depression, anxiety, poor attachment, relationship issues, unsuccessful communication, grief and loss, complex trauma, emotional regulation, self-injury, dual diagnosis, parent and child conflict, low value of self, victimization, social integration, and stage of life adjustment. Cheryl has a proven ability to work with clients that are resistant to engage in therapy. She welcomes clients with all presenting problems.

Ms. Cheryl Cohen is an interactive couples therapist who strives to bring forth strengths in the relationship and help minimize/improve the deficits. She is empathic, genuine and intuitive in nature. Cheryl will start by getting an in-depth assessment from the couple and each person individually, to have the most comprehensive information to work with when addressing the couple’s concerns. Healthy couples are a product of healthy individuals.
Cheryl takes a non-partial approach when meeting with couples which creates a non-judgmental and open atmosphere to honestly look at what isn’t working. Couples often feed off one another in positive and negative directions; a cycle of unhealthy interactions begin and neither person knows how to stop the cycle from repeating, which leads to the couple’s dissatisfaction in the relationship and a rut of negativity. Cheryl encourages each person to look inside themselves and identify what is really bothering them. It is much easier to blame the other person for what they feel isn’t working, while not owning what they are or aren’t doing that maintains their dissatisfaction as well. Cheryl also brings light to strengths and helps people refocus on what is working, increasing positive feelings while making changes to areas that need improvement.

Cheryl believes that communication, honesty, vulnerability, self-awareness and the willingness not to be right at the cost of one another all factor into improving relationships. Learning how to communicate involves speaking in a language that both people recognize. Language involves verbal and non-verbal communication about our values and morals, roles, expectations, and boundaries. A simple word like ‘upset’ can be interpreted differently by each person, thus we all speak and interpret in slightly different languages. Cheryl helps couples come to better understand one another’s language and communicate more effectively.

The decision to enter into couples therapy is often made when all other supports have been tapped and the couple has not had success on their own in improving the relationship. Sometimes people may feel they have hit rock bottom preceding making the call to come for couples therapy. Although you may feel stuck and have little hope for change, you had hope enough to reach out and Cheryl is here to support, guide and teach you how to make things different.

Cheryl Cohen’s experience working with children, parents and families spans 25 years. She is well versed in attachment theory parenting as well as general parenting from a positive learning opportunity and natural consequences aspect. Cheryl is trained in Family Systems and in Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), which adds to her ability to connect with children and families who have experienced trauma and crisis. She also has specialized experience in foster care and adoption, and children who come from families with financial deficits.

Cheryl works well with children by understanding and thinking from their perspective and experience. Children are not little adults and don’t experience or process things the same way. Therefore, using crafts, play, art, games, humor, modeling and practicing of behavior, and going outside, children can communicate what they might not be able to put into words. Cheryl addresses trauma, oppositional defiance, anxiety, depression, conduct disorder, grief and loss, separation and divorce, and family issues. Cheryl approaches anger, behavior, and anxiety by managing the issues that precipitate difficult emotions or poor behavior, and by working at decreasing / eliminating what leads to the spiraling of dysregulated emotions and behavior. Cheryl believes in being clear about age appropriate rules, limitations and expectations, and that children do best when they know what to expect and can count on the adult to maintain rules, limitations, and expectations. Cheryl also has a goofy side and enjoys adding humor and silliness when appropriate. Cheryl has worked with children and families in private practice, community-based, inpatient and residential settings.

Cheryl Cohen has worked with adolescents for over 25 years. Cheryl’s undergraduate degree is in family systems, and in graduate school she maintained a family systems perspective. Cheryl has a non -judgmental, non-condemning, relationship-based approach. She believes it is the connection between clinician and client that determines outcomes. “No matter how good a therapist is, it won’t matter if the client doesn’t connect to them.”

Cheryl has worked with adolescents in outpatient, inpatient, wilderness programs, schools for at risk teens, traditional school settings, foster care, and group home settings. She has been a consultant to programs for at risk youth and has lead seminars to local agencies working with this age group. Aside from stage of life adjustments and mood disorders, Cheryl has expertise with issues of self-injury, trauma and abuse, substance use /abuse, gender identity, healthy relationships, peer pressure and bullying, grief and loss, anxiety and behavioral problems such as running away, defiance, and lack of accountability. She also has extensive background working with children and adolescents and their pre and post adoptive families.

Cheryl looks at all parts of a teen’s world. When approaching this sometimes awkward stage of life, Cheryl is authentic, honest, open, and respectful. She encourages adolescents to ask questions of any nature which shifts the traditional format to one that allows for freedom and curiosity, a key component at this stage of life. Cheryl enjoys offering alternatives to talk therapy incorporating art, music, nature, games and activities. She believes this is often a more natural approach as it allows us to communicate with more than just words, which accounts for only a percent of communication. Cheryl is a very passionate and hands-on therapist that interacts with and accompanies adolescents and families along their journey.

Many times, children and adolescents are the “identified client” when entering therapy, however, from a family systems perspective, everyone in the family has a role in what takes place. Cheryl meets with parents and families when clinically indicated, to get to the core of dysfunctional systems and establish healthy family relationships. “We all wear different size shoes. Parenting is not a one size fits all process.” This doesn’t mean what a parent is doing is wrong, simply that it isn’t effective at this time. Family and/or parenting sessions are not blame focused, they are solution focused, using a delicate balance of coaching, psychoeducation, and alternatives. Cheryl believes there are multigenerational factors that impact every generation of every family. Your passion for art, mechanics or sewing, fears or phobias, parenting style, bias or judgment, addictions or illness, are things that can be generationally influenced through genetics and environment. Who we are is a combination of multigenerational patterns and current influences. Family therapy without looking at patterns from previous generations is like missing pieces to a puzzle. A great predictor of the future is what hasn’t changed from the past. Cheryl has a whole-picture perspective when working with families recognizing that there is more to what is going on than we see on the surface. A focus on healthy communication, teaching moments, and non-punitive approaches are beneficial and increase positive outcomes.

Cheryl Cohen works with couples, individuals and children (minors and adult children) experiencing the pre and post phases of separation and divorce. She approaches this fragile subject by providing a safe, open, honest, and neutral setting to address the issues that are present. Parents, children, and individuals without children all want to understand what happened and what’s to come. Cheryl applies a neutral, non-judgmental understanding of what is being experienced and how to cope with it. How each person is affected by this change will be different, and previous experiences involving grief and loss, abandonment (real or perceived), and the inability to have power over what is happening contribute to how one handles the current situation. Everyone in the family is affected when relationships end. Each person, including the person who initiates the separation, has a multitude of emotions and thoughts that can be confusing, frustrating, painful, etc. For children, she provides supportive therapy as they work through their feelings regarding the end of their parents’ marriage and what it means for them now and in the future.

For the adults separating, Cheryl also helps them process their feelings and start to imagine a new vision for the future. No one plans on getting married and then ending the marriage. People change and grow constantly. We are not who we were when we first met, and unfortunately for some couples these changes lead to relationship dissatisfaction. Why do some couples make it and some don’t? This is the $10 million dollar question. Separation and divorce are unpleasant for all, and feelings of fear, humiliation, hurt and sadness can manifest into a need to control, be right, blame, and punish. But, it doesn’t have to be that way. Both people in the relationship have a role, whether small or large, in how things got to where they are. Cheryl believes it is important for each person to look at themselves and identify and own what their part is for their own personal growth moving forward. It is vital for each person to learn about themselves so that future relationships (couples, parent/child, employee/employer, and friendships) can be stronger and healthier.

Cheryl supports and guides each person to emerge from the loss of the relationship with the ability to move forward in the most emotionally, mentally, physically, and spiritually healthy manner possible.

When Cheryl is not a work, she enjoys spending time with her dogs, cats, and Prehensile Monkey Tailed Skink. She assists her mother with a small, small-dog boarding and training business. She enjoyed raising her grandson and supports his passion for playing rugby. Coloring, scrapbooking and doing puzzles provide additional relaxation.