Two light-skinned hands hold a brown mug full of warm liquid, each hand wrapped around the opposite side of the mug

My approach to therapy begins with assuming your inherent wholeness and offers a profound experience of connection.

Together we will work to understand the past, feel what is here now, and heal the pain.

You can then be at peace within yourself and in relationship to others.

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Teressa, a white woman with shoulder-length brown hair, smiles happily at the camera. She is surrounded by bushes or trees in the background.

Welcome! My name is Teressa Cohen.

I am a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist located in West Hartford, Connecticut. I aspire to make you feel at home here, offering a warm setting, a cup of tea, and human to human connection.

The greatest priority in my work is the trusting relationship we cultivate together. I see my clients as full human beings, encourage expansive mindset around self-concept and assume that each one of us embodies “brilliant sanity” and inherent wholeness.

A blue wooden door is centered in the frame, surrounded by white wooden walls on either side. A large, green vining plant hangs over the top of the building and around the door frame.

I specialize in getting to the root cause of your suffering, investigating and examining where this suffering originated, how to stop the cycle that creates more suffering – and finally how to become free from it.

Are you ready to take the first step toward that kind of freedom?

As a therapist, I work with anxiety and grief, encourage conscious partnerships and mindful parenting, and collaboratively embark with trauma survivors on the healing journey of post-traumatic resilience.

Two light-skinned hands hold a glass mug of tea. The tea is full of small yellow flowers, and grass is visible in the background, from an overhead view.
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Anxiety is a common experience of the human condition. We have all felt it, to varying degrees, and at different times and stages of our lives. Both the Psychoanalytic and Buddhist traditions see anxiety in a similar way. Despite the specific causes and manifestations, the root of all anxiety is a sense of “separateness” which usually begins at a very young age.

Anxiety can be experienced physically, emotionally, and spiritually, and we can work toward healing through this holistic understanding, too.

THERAPY FOR ANXIETY

A mug of tea is framed in the center of the image. A slice of lemon and a small lavender sprig float in the tea.

Grief is a raw encounter with profound sadness. This is what is asked of us as we navigate grief: to be with this experience in a vulnerable and open way. Our task is to keep our hearts open in the face of this great pain. When loss is complicated, we may need extra support to process the complexities of the relationship and come to peace about what was and what could not be.

THERAPY FOR GRIEF

THERAPY FOR TRAUMA

Healing from trauma is a journey. It takes courage and commitment. It is a relief to heal the hurting parts of ourselves, reduce the habit of hypervigilance, lower our guard to connect with others, and recognize that we deserve love and care and choose to move toward these things. Instead of keeping our life small, we can begin to look for a more spacious way of living.

We begin to take better care of ourselves, learn new hobbies, spend time in nature, make new friendships, pursue meaningful work, and look back at our lives without fear but with a lens of clarity and self-compassion. We learn how to keep ourselves safe without keeping ourselves in a prison to do so.

In time, on this journey, the body starts to relax. We start to thaw from the “winter” of self-protection. We begin to come alive.

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THERAPY FOR COMMITTED COUPLES

As committed couples, navigating a long-term relationship means finding shared meaning and values, while honoring individual freedom and autonomy. This balance of intimacy and freedom may be challenging, but it is achievable! It requires working with our own insecurities and attachment patterns from childhood. We learn new ways of being together regarding communication patterns, expectations, shared power, vulnerability, sex and emotional connection. We bring forth past wounds and learn to forgive. And we learn how to avoid and resolve conflict, how to make repairs, and how to move forward with kindness.

A light-skinned hand holds a mug by the handle, reaching out from a blanket. The mug is full of tea, and fallen leaves are visible in the background.

FAMILY THERAPY FOR PARENTS AND ADULT CHILDREN

As a parent of two young adults, I have learned much about what makes these relationships thrive. I am passionate about supporting parents and their adult children in order to cultivate deeply connected relationships, regardless of the past. We can learn from the past, manage our anxieties, learn new communication skills, learn to let go, and become new versions of ourselves as parents.

THERAPY FOR THE DEAF, HARD OF HEARING, DEAFBLIND, AND CODA COMMUNITIES

Many years ago, I worked as an ASL educational and medical interpreter in Connecticut. I also worked at the American School for the Deaf and learned much about Deaf culture from my time there. I did some interpreting for the Deaf-Blind Association of Connecticut. I performed with the CRIDDERS for a few years and developed rich friendships within these various communities.

Throughout these years, my experience showed me that the Deaf community is full of strong, intelligent, creative, compassionate, and capable people who deserve equal access to information, care, and healing. Twenty years later and now as a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, I feel grateful for the opportunity to serve the Deaf, Hard of Hearing, DeafBlind and CODA communities.

Teressa, a white woman with short brown hair wearing glasses and gold jewelry, smiles at the camera. She makes the ASL sign for "I Love You" toward the viewer.

My practice is affirming of all clients seeking support in these areas of their lives, especially those in marginalized communities, including LGBTQIA+ individuals and partners, veterans, and the Deaf, Hard of Hearing, DeafBlind, and CODA Communities.

You are welcome here, and I would love to support you in your healing.