Richard A. Cohen is an American psychotherapist and Christian author associated with the ex-gay movement. He is a co-founder of Positive Approaches to Healthy Sexuality (previously Positive Alternatives to Homosexuality) which offers discredited conversion therapy practices purporting to change a person from homosexual to heterosexual. In 2002, Cohen was expelled from the American Counseling Association for multiple violations. He gained media attention after demonstrating his ex-gay touch therapy on The Daily Show, which included cuddling with men and beating a pillow.

Biography

Cohen was born into a Jewish family in a suburb of Philadelphia. During adolescence, Cohen reportedly spent "years in intensive psychiatric treatment unsuccessfully trying to become straight". He did not appeal the ACA decision. He gained media attention for demonstrating cuddling with men and hitting pillows as a method for curing homosexuality. and was on The Michelangelo Signorile Show on the Sirius radio network on April 17, 2010.

Selected works

  1. Coming Out Straight, Oakhill Press, Winchester, VA, 2000,
  2. Gay Children, Straight Parents, 2007, InterVarsity Press,
  3. Being Gay: Nature, Nurture or Both? PATH Press, 2020,
  4. Understanding Our LGBTQ+ Loved Ones, 2022, PATH Press,
  5. Healing Humanity: Time, Touch & Talk, 2018, TTT Press, USA,
  6. A Therapist’s Guide: Assisting Our LGBTQ+ Loved Ones, 2024, PATH Press,

References