Sandra Cohen Ph.D.

Sandra Cohen Ph.D. Dr. Sandra Cohen is a certified Psychoanalyst and Trauma Informed Specialist focused on childhood trauma and its aftereffects. Speaker. Author. Educator. We see.

My name is Dr. Sandra Cohen and I am a certified psychoanalyst and licensed clinical psychologist with a practice in Beverly Hills, California. Each time I watch a film, TV show or read a book, my psychoanalyst’s mind begins to construct the same kind of understandings I might give to my patients. Pop culture often depicts real human problems with startling accuracy. Why is this so? Fictional char

acters are informed by their writer’s experiences and made more convincing by what we bring as we watch or read. Our unconscious minds unite with the writer’s. Personal experience is made public. We relate. We know. The early memories and unconscious struggles of these characters show us what we can’t so easily know about other people or ourselves. My musings at Characters on the Couch give me a chance to tell you what I see in ways similar to how I talk with my patients.

08/18/2026

Hunger is normal. But when you grow up without enough, it can get mixed up with desperation, temptation, and the need to prove yourself.

Bruton premiered last week at the Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland.

I can’t wait for people to see it, and Theo Rossi’s psychologically rich performance.

A big thank you to Justine Browning for giving me early access to this film!

08/16/2026

What does it mean to “lose your head” after severe trauma?

In Hereditary, decapitation becomes a metaphor for what happens when feelings become too terrifying and overwhelming to think about.

Bryan Bruton is hungry. Hungry for money. To be admired and desired. To prove himself. To take care of everyone who reli...
08/12/2026

Bryan Bruton is hungry. Hungry for money. To be admired and desired. To prove himself. To take care of everyone who relies on him.

But when you’ve spent your life fighting off the feeling of never having enough, that hunger can lead you in dangerous directions.

Bruton asks what happens when the high of being smart, cunning, and getting away with things becomes its own addiction. And what it takes, finally, to face yourself and the consequences of what you’ve done.

Thank you Justine Browning for sharing an advance screening of this excellent film with me. And shout out to THEO, who gives an excellent, psychologically rich portrayal of Bryan, especially as the armor begins to crack and all those feelings he’s spent his life escaping finally catch up with him.

Bruton makes its world premiere today at Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland!

Trauma doesn’t disappear because you stop thinking about it.When feelings become too terrifying, too painful, or too con...
08/04/2026

Trauma doesn’t disappear because you stop thinking about it.

When feelings become too terrifying, too painful, or too confusing, you dissociate. You put them to sleep. You “lose your head.”

That’s the horror at the center of Hereditary.

The Graham family isn’t simply haunted by demons. They’re haunted by generations of unresolved trauma, grief, fear, and loss that no one has ever been able to put into words.

When no one can help you think about what happened, trauma keeps repeating itself.

Until someone finally helps you bear it.

07/24/2026

Remembering hurts.

But it also keeps love alive inside you. That’s the courage Sheep Detectives asks of Lily. And of all of us. Read my full piece at the link in my bio!

Reynolds Woodcock spends his life trying not to need anyone.He controls his work, his routine, his emotions, and every w...
07/21/2026

Reynolds Woodcock spends his life trying not to need anyone.

He controls his work, his routine, his emotions, and every woman who comes close to him. Underneath all that control is a hungry little boy who lost a mother he could never get close enough to.

Then Alma sees him immediately. “For the hungry boy.”

The game they invent is strange. Even dangerous. But it grows out of a very ordinary fear: What happens when needing someone feels far more frightening than losing them?

Hidden-ness is at the heart of Call Me By Your Name.Elio hides. Oliver hides. They circle each other, protecting themsel...
07/17/2026

Hidden-ness is at the heart of Call Me By Your Name.

Elio hides. Oliver hides. They circle each other, protecting themselves from saying the one thing that matters most.

Love asks them to do something much harder than desire.
It asks them to risk being seen.

And once you allow yourself to feel that deeply, you also have to accept that heartbreak is part of the bargain.

How long can one bad day last?For Phil Connors, it lasts until he finally hears what “I Got You Babe” has been telling h...
07/14/2026

How long can one bad day last?

For Phil Connors, it lasts until he finally hears what “I Got You Babe” has been telling him all along. Take a risk. Believe in love. Stop listening to the Groundhog voice that says the world is cold, people will reject you, and you’re safer staying closed off.

That voice can keep you stuck for years.

Getting out of a very bad rut means changing more than your circumstances. It means changing the voice you trust.

07/10/2026

In Backrooms, the horror lives in what has been sealed away.

Mary has survived by shutting the doors on her childhood terror. Clark is unraveling because his doors will no longer stay closed. Between them is the painful failure of one person to recognize what another is reliving.

Trauma can hide for years. Then something opens the way back in, and the feelings return with all their original force.

Healing begins when someone safe is willing to enter those rooms with you.

Address

435 N Bedford Drive, Ste 406
Beverly Hills, CA
90210

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 5pm
Tuesday 8am - 5pm
Wednesday 8am - 5pm
Thursday 8am - 5pm
Friday 8am - 5pm

Telephone

+13102734827

Website

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