One of the images that comes to mind when I think of someone extraordinarily gifted in their field is of the Robert Redford character from the movie "The Natural". That kind of inborn ability that's difficult if not impossible to teach or learn from a book. Psychotherapy is one of those areas of expertise that often requires that kind of natural talent - and Jeff Cohen is one of the few practitioners that I know who embodies it. Yet talent without experience and years of refinement means little. Through my knowledge and first hand contact with Jeff, both personally and professionally, I believe Jeff has both. Relying not just on his natural capacity for empathy and understanding that's often powerfully healing in itself - Jeff has developed his own method of deep and uncovering techniques that also incorporate a challenge to his patients to change and evolve. Not just supportive but transformative. But unlike some practitioners who become overly enamored of and bound to their own approach I've found Jeff to be open to complementary treatments, including biological when called for. That speaks to his flexibility and openness as well. And isn't that one of the most critical characteristics that can be modeled for people seeking a change both in their own views of themselves and their experience of the world.

Oren Kalus M.D.
Psychiatrist
Princeton University, Columbia University
Boston University School of Medicine

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Having collaborated since 2002 with Jeff Cohen, LMHC, Founder and Director of The New York Centers for Integrated Feeling Therapy, I can only offer the highest praise to the man and his work.  Centered in the earliest origins of human feeling, and then tying those primal strands to the here-and-now experience of his clients' adult lives, Jeff reveals, and, in some sense, co-creates, with his clients, the fabric of emotional life itself, that most fundamental dimension of the human condition.  The result is healing and deliverance to a fully integrated appreciation for the depth and breadth of personal history, present experience, and future possibility.  He deserves our applause for the effort and all his success.       

M. Daniel Nienaltow, M.D., C.M.
Psychiatry and Internal Medicine,
Private Practice & Special Consultant,
Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology,
Columbia University;
Diplomate, American Board of Psychiatry & Neurology

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Jeff Cohen’s Integrated Feeling Therapy (IFT) synthesizes the best aspects of many of the therapeutic schools currently in the world. Based in the revolutionary ideas and theories of Arthur Janov’s primal therapy, Jeff has expanded and refined that modality, bringing it up to date and into the 21st century. He has added traditional analysis, Gestalt, Reichian, developmental and object relations theory and all play a part in the IFT model.

Jeff Cohen is a master therapist and a courageous, spontaneous teacher, unafraid to bring in diverse, non-traditional readings, challenging ideas and bold techniques. Almost no one is teaching this primal material outside of Janov’s institute in California. And literally, no one is teaching it in this expanded context. IFT takes the therapist and the patient into parts of the psyche/soma that no other form of therapy I know of does. It is essential material for any therapist who wants to know the depths of the healing process.

The IFT training is a combination of didactic, experiential and practicum education. Jeff has restored the transferential/countertransferential paradigm to the primal model. Organismically based and organic in its approach, IFT sees healing as helping the patient learn to love and be loved; and so the training focuses a great deal on the therapist’s ability to love and be loved in the world.

As one trainee summed up their sense of the IFT training and philosophy, "I can only be as good a therapist as I am a human being."

Michael O’Brien, NYS Licensed Psychotherapist 
Graduate of IFT Four-year Training Program
Trained in Classical Reichian Therapy by Bernard Rosenblum, M.D.
Graduate of the Four-year Training Program at the Gestalt Associates for Psychotherapy

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I am reconnected to my real self and to the dreams I have for my life, to my creativity, to the universe and what I perceive to be my place in it in a new and startling way. This is attributable to Jeff Cohen and his eclectic approach to therapy and life. Jeff is not a guru, but a deeply committed and brilliant therapist; a man who can reach through the defenses that have been erected against trauma, disappointment and early pain, and help the client to see these defenses for what they are, and how they run their lives in the present. With Integrated Feeling Therapy (IFT), a client discovers how past trauma and early pain can continue to sabotage the dreams and goals that the client has. Cohen’s combination of deep feeling work, and talk therapy in the here and now offers the client the tools to overcome these barriers to success, and to find the love they have been seeking.

The process of self-examination and discovery that this psychotherapy training demands resulted in a profound change in me: I am more fulfilled, more complete, more centered than I ever felt possible. Emboldened by this renewed faith in myself, I am confident in the skills that Cohen’s IFT has given me to guide my clients on their search for self.

Valerie M. Bell, M.A.
Certified Integrated Feeling Life Coach
Professor at Brooklyn College (CUNY)
Actress; Singer

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Jeff Cohen is a talented therapist who is tuned into his clients’ feelings. He knows how to tap the deeper sources of these feelings, which, he believes, is key for healing. Using the methods of IFT (Integrated Feeling Therapy), which take the principle theories from Arthur Janov’s primal therapy, Cohen goes further than Janov by developing a connected relationship with the client. He believes this relationship is essential to healing and integration of the primal feelings that have emerged. Many people make significant changes in their lives, working with Jeff as their therapist and employing this therapeutic modality.

Jill Morris, Ph.D.: 
Certified IFT Therapist
Certified Imago Couples Therapist
Psychoanalyst
Author of Four Books (The Dream Workbook, Creative Breakthroughs, 
Transformational Dreaming, The Mother-Daughter Relationship)
Author of Numerous Articles
Instructor N.Y.U., Cooper Union, Center for Modern Psychoanalysis
Numerous T.V. appearances as Expert on Dreams and Psychotherapy

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Participation in the IFT (Integrated Feeling Therapy) training group, led by Jeff Cohen, was one of the most profound transformational healing experiences, both personally and professionally, of my life. Jeff masterfully guided the training group through IFT theory, practice, and each participant's quest for deeper self-knowledge and and understanding. As a facilitator, Jeff's capacity to recognize the unique qualities and strengths of trainees, and his ability to challenge us to live that strength in the world, set the stage for the healing potential of the group. Through the mutual experiences of the group process, participants were able to express who we are in real ways and gain first-hand awareness of how IFT really works.

Most importantly, we came to understand more about how to love and be loves - the core goal of IFT. I can think of no other educational/experiential training which could better prepare one to be an effective therapist. The course of my life has changed forever since participation in the training. I recommend it to any person seeking to greatly enhance their life through increased self-awareness and learning about the human experience.

Melissa Allen, L.C.S.W./R.
Certified IFT Therapist
Certified Spiritual Counselor
Ordained Non-denominational Minister

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I am a visual arts historian and arts professional. I have been seeing Jeffrey T. Cohen for several years. He's the real deal; he doesn't cut corners, he gets the job done. Even to this day, I am constantly finding myself impressed over the rigorous skills and acumen he brings to his calling. These are evident facets of his personality and training that are imbued with critical perception, honesty and integrity. It is an amazing thing to watch and be part of. Not surprising, over time I have learned to cherish and respect the guidance and insights he brings to his practice in the service of the psychological health of his clients. There is real artistry at work here. A sympathetic yet straight-shooter, Cohen has made all the difference for me in allowing me to see aspects of myself, my concerns, fears and mental constructs in a way no one else can. It is evident that he not only knows what it means to care, he also wants the best for his clients. He wants them to be mindful, to renew, grow and integrate with the world. And he quides them in finding ways to do so for themselves. The emphatically incisive, pragmatic approach Jeff Cohen brings to his practice and to his clients is suffused with grace, clarity, trust, rigor and casual intensity. IFT has been a life-changing, life-enhancing experience for me.

DN - New York City

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