Education & Career Highlights

Career Highlights

• Senior Staff Clinician and Clinical Supervisor, Program Director, 2007-2017; Casa Pacifica, Camarillo, CA; a non-profit agency providing mental health services to children (birth to 18 years) who were exposed to trauma, abused, neglected and placed in foster care. Casa Pacifica, an American Psychological Association internship site, has multiple programs for youth including: an emergency shelter for homeless children, transition to adult, long and short term residential care, and a campus based nonpublic school.  Staff clinicians provide service and supervision across all campus programs.  Additionally, Dr. Cohen provided Parent-Child-Interaction-Therapy (PCIT) to children ages 2-8 and their parents or caregivers, and as well trained and certified interns and new employees in PCIT.
• Post-Doctoral Fellow, Psychologist, Manager, Supervisor, 2000-2007; Nevada Division of Child and Family Services: Early Childhood Mental Health, Las Vegas, Nevada. Dr. Cohen provided community based individual and family therapy services and collaborated with an in-house therapeutic preschool and with relevant community partners. Dr. Cohen’s clients were children, ages birth thru completion of the first grade.
• Special Education Teacher, 1986-1988; New York City and Pasadena School Districts.  New York City School District: Taught in a self-contained, middle school, special education classroom; students met eligibility for Individual Education Plans (IEP) due to diagnoses of learning disabilities. Pasadena School District: Taught in a self-contained, primary grade (k-3), special education classroom; students met eligibility for special education services due to diagnoses of learning, developmental and/or emotional disabilities.
• Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) Therapist, 1983-1985; The May Institute, Chatham, Massachusetts; a private residential program specializing in ABA treatment. Clients were children, ages 3 – 16, with Individual Education Plans (IEP) indicating eligibility for residential care due to diagnoses of involved autism spectrum disorder, significant global developmental delays, and severe behavior problems. Therapists also provided intensive home-based parent training to support the children’s transition back into their family home.