Barbara L. Cohen, LMFT

555 Middlefield Road, Suite 102
Palo Alto, CA 94301
(650) 325-9510
blccohen@comcast.net

Barbara Has Passed Away

Barbara Cohen died on Monday 11 July 2016. She was a lover of life and of people with a sharp and creative mind, a wonderful mother, grandmother, wife and daughter. She fought a variety of health issues much of her life and always succeeded in adjusting to a "new normal" with great spirit. As a psychotherapist, she helped her clients and enjoyed their growth and successes in life.

She will be missed.

She is survived by her 3 daughters and her husband of 43 years, Howard. You may contact him at howard@cohensw.com

A Gentle Holistic Approach to Therapy

The process of acquiring self-knowledge and assimilating it into growth and change for the better can often be a difficult one. My training in a diverse set of approaches to counseling and therapy provides me with a suite of tools to use in our relationship in the most appropriate way to help you achieve the goals you have set out for yourself. I deal with you as a whole person, in the context of your history and relationships, and also in the here and now.

My training has included

systems theory
gestalt psychology
self-psychology
object relations
EMDR
psychodynamics
hypnosis

I believe that my role is to facilitate your growth as an independent, autonomous human being, not to encourage a dependency on me as a therapist. However, I must be supportive in this process, providing feedback, guidance, and the space to figure things out for yourself at the pace you set.

Counseling Unique Issues of Adoption

All three members of the adoption triad - the birthmother, the adoptee, and the adoptive parents - have unique perspectives and needs. I work with individuals, families and groups in exploring the particular issues they have with regard to adoption. These include

Loss
Pre- and Post-Reunion Issues
Relationships (with family, siblings, parents, spouses, lovers and blended families)

I bring the insights of a birthmother who has been reunited with the child I gave up for adoption as well as being the parent of an adopted child. I have worked with all members of the triad, adult and adolescent.

Other Strengths

I have experience also in these areas

counseling adolescents
substance abuse
grief and loss
couples and relationships, both gay and straight
coping with chronic illness
family therapy
groups
providing supervision to therapists in training
Asperger's Syndrome and high functioning autism

My office is wheelchair accessible and close to public transportation. I have lived for extended periods of time in several different countries, and so I have a multi-cultural perspective.

I also can conduct therapy sessions via Skype for those clients who cannot come into the office.

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