Richard Cohen

Richard A. Cohen (born 1952) is a Christian psychotherapist and 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 is author of Alfie's Home, a children's book which depicts homosexuality as a reversible condition. He gained media attention after demonstrating his ex-gay touch therapy on The Daily Show, which included cuddling with men and beating a pillow. Cohen was born into a Jewish family in Philadelphia. While attending Boston University, he became an evangelical Christian, and later joined the Unification Church. In 1980, Cohen married Jae Sook, a South Korean woman, and in 1995, Cohen and his family left the Unification Church. During adolescence, Cohen reportedly spent "years in intensive psychiatric treatment unsuccessfully trying to become straight".Cohen identified as gay during his undergraduate years at Boston University. He sought counseling for his unwanted same-sex attractions. He says he has been heterosexual since 1987, to which he credits resolution of underlying issues. He then became involved in the ex-gay movement.Cohen received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Boston University and a Master of Arts degree in Counseling Psychology from Antioch University.Cohen appeared in Wayne Bensen's book Anything But Straight, which documents Cohen's involvement in the ex-gay movement and his affairs with men even as he publicly portrayed himself as a married "former homosexual".He is author of Alfie's Home, a children's book which depicts homosexuality as a reversible condition.