Sandra E Cohen, PhD | Psychotherapy & Psychoanalysis in Beverly Hills, CA
I’m Dr. Sandra Cohen, a clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst in private practice in Beverly Hills, California. Welcome to my website.
As you explore this site, you’ll notice I do both psychotherapy and psychoanalysis. I see adults who come into therapy as a result of childhood trauma and many other psychological problems.
My Private Practice
Dr. Sandra Cohen’s private practice is in Beverly Hills, California, where I do psychotherapy and psychoanalysis in person in my office. My psychotherapy work is at the heart of what I do. I have been devoted to helping people for over 40 years and have developed many specializations. My expertise includes treating childhood trauma as a trauma-informed practitioner.
I’ve had years of experience working to help heal the aftereffects of sexual and physical abuse, neglect, and abandonment. I also treat panic attacks, various forms of anxiety, and obsessive worry. Hypochondria. Borderline personality. Eating disorders. Persistent depression. Self-injury (cutting). Bipolar disorder. Dissociation. Difficulties moving on after a loss. Relationship challenges. Creative blocks. And, I am highly committed to working with those of you who haven’t found the right help. If you’ve experienced previous therapies that failed you, I encourage you to reach out.
When I work with any presenting symptoms and problems, I use my psychoanalytic training and understanding to offer the best help I can, whether you decide on once or twice-per-week psychotherapy or more in-depth psychoanalysis.
If you live in California and can’t meet with me in my office, I also practice Teletherapy using HIPAA compliant Zoom.
All sessions are confidential.
You might have questions and concerns about how to make Teletherapy work for you.
I hope I can answer some of them below and on my Teletherapy page:
How Does Teletherapy Work?
You might wonder what it would be like to do psychotherapy on a screen. Will you be able to feel my presence and form the kind of close bond with me that you need? Will I be able to help with the things you’re struggling with if we work remotely? I assure you that you can. I will do everything possible to engage with you and talk about anything you’re feeling, including these and any other concerns. Please bring any questions you have to our first consultation.
I offer a 25-minute complimentary Zoom consultation. You’ll have a chance to see how you feel about working with me.
Feel free to call or email anytime to make an appointment. You can reach me at (310) 273-4827 or sandracohenphd@gmail.com. I look forward to having the opportunity to work with you.
Teletherapy can help you resolve any difficulties you’re having so that you can move forward in your life. I give you what I would if we sat in my office together. From the beginning of my long career, I have taken my clinical work seriously.
Because of this, I committed long ago to developing the most effective skills possible.
Psychoanalytic Training
In 1994, I honored this commitment by going into psychoanalytic training. As a result, I earned a Psy.D. and certification in psychoanalysis, in addition to my Ph.D. During my training, I gained in-depth experience in deep psychological work. And, as a result, I have more understanding of complicated psychological symptoms to offer you as we work together.
I’m deeply involved in the psychoanalytic world of empathic insight. Consequently, I not only extend this to my patients but also to a commitment to teaching others. I am a Training and Supervising Analyst at the Psychoanalytic Center of California (PCC), in Los Angeles. I was Dean and Chair of the Education Committee at PCC from 2008 to 2011.
I continue to teach and supervise.
Dr. Cohen’s Writing
I love to write both professionally and creatively. I actively write on Moving Forward, this website blog, Medium.com, and my charactersonthecouch.com blog. In these ways, I reach out to the general public with an understanding of psychological symptoms and struggles they might have.
Because I love to write, I treasure the opportunity to serve as an associate member of the North American Editorial Board of the International Journal of Psychoanalysis (IJPA) from 1999-2000. In 2010, I published a film essay on The Curious Case of Benjamin Button in the IJPA and continue to write about the psychology of film characters.
I’ve written a chapter in a volume on the work of Pedro Almodovar. This book is titled Pedro Almodóvar: A Cinema of Desire, Passion, and Compulsion edited by Arlene Kramer Richards, Lucille Spira with Merle Molofsky. It was published by IP Books in 2019. You can find my chapter here, on Almodovar’s 2009 film, Broken Embraces.
Additionally, in March 2021, I published a paper in The Psychoanalytic Study of The Child. This paper focuses on the history and contributions of my two great-aunts, Marie H. Briehl and Rosetta Hurwitz. My great-aunts trained in Vienna with Anna Freud and were instrumental in bringing child psychoanalysis to the United States in 1930. Marie Briehl created the first child psychoanalytic training program in Los Angeles, at the Southern California Psychoanalytic Institute and Society.
Creatively, I constantly work on other writings. So, take a look at my blog, Characters on the Couch. You’ll see how I use my clinical experience to analyze fictional characters in film and television.
For more about Dr. Sandra Cohen’s writings and presentations, please see my Media page.
Dr. Sandra Cohen’s Professional Memberships
Dr. Sandra Cohen has professional memberships in the following organizations:
International Psychoanalytic Association (IPA)
Confederation of Independent Psychoanalytic Societies (CIPS)
American Psychological Association (APA)
I was an expert with YourTango.com, a relationship and self-improvement website, from 2018 to 2022.
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