Central Connecticut State University School of Education
	Faculty & Staff

	Ralph Cohen
	Professor

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As a teacher of family therapy, I believe that the process of relationship between teacher and student parallels the process between therapist and client. It is the content matter of what I teach to my students in the Master's program in Marriage and Family Therapy at CCSU.

As a therapist,

• I must listen carefully to my client's messages, both verbal and non-verbal;
• I must understand the client's learning style;
• I must discover what motivates the client to risk learning new ideas and behaviors;
• I must respect what I learn about the client and adapt myself to "meet the client at his/her model of the world" in order to lead the person to a new view of life;
• I must be able to develop and test hypotheses regarding the dilemmas the client is bringing into therapy and to plan intervention strategies;
• I must possess the skills to develop and implement these interventions and to adjust my approach based on feedback from the client in response to my actions;
• and I must possess the wisdom to know when to act and when not to act.
• In addition, I must be able to read and understand my own internal processes, attitudes, and biases, which come into play in various ways in my interactions with others.

These are the values and skills that my students must also learn to become effective therapists.

Like the therapy process, I view teaching as a recursive process which requires the participation of both teacher and learner. These roles can be adopted by both professor and student at various times. I believe that teaching is that it is not merely an activity; it is a way of conducting one's self in such a way that others can learn. This is accomplished through instructing, modeling, reinforcing, and setting up "learning moments" through spontaneous interactions with other people. The teacher needs to learn from the learner in order to teach; the instructor must learn about each student in order to relate effectively. Teachers cannot not teach--students learn through observation of the teacher, and thus, the teacher has a responsibility to know what messages are being conveyed to the observer. Just as therapists must have attitudes of respect, humility, and genuine curiosity about those who seek their wisdom, so too must the teachers of therapists possess these qualities.

Ralph S. Cohen, Ph.D. is Associate Professor in the Department of Health and Human Service Professions at Central Connecticut State University and is director of the Master's program in Marriage and Family Therapy. Dr. Cohen is developing innovations in teaching the Family Systems paradigm, applying an integrative "Metaframeworks" approach in conceptualizing various domains of systems theory. He has developed a computer-based multimedia interactional simulation program to teach and reinforce the Metaframeworks model during the first year of graduate training in marriage & family therapy. Dr. Cohen is active in the professional community in promoting the field of Marriage and Family Therapy; serving as president of the Family Study Center of Connecticut, on the Board of Directors of the Connecticut Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (CAMFT), and as Chair of the Advocacy Committee of the CAMFT. He also serves on the Health Advisory Board of the New Britain Head Start Program. His professional affiliations include: Clinical Membership and Approved Supervisor designation in the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT), membership in the American Family Therapy Academy (AFTA), and membership in the American Psychological Association. Dr. Cohen has a private practice in Newington, Connecticut, in which he works with individuals, couples, and families.

Courses I teach:

MFT 541: Introduction to Theories of Family Systems
MFT 551: Structural, Strategic, and Behavioral Family Therapies
MFT 555: Dysfunctional Family Processes
MFT 583: Marriage and Family Therapy Practicum I
MFT 584: Marriage and Family Therapy Practicum II
MFT 585: Marriage and Family Therapy Internship

School of Education and Professional Studies/Central Connecticut State University/ 1615 Stanley Street, New Britain, Connecticut 06050/Phone: 860-832-2100/Fax: 860.832.2109