Richard Cohen is scheduled to appear on Jimmy Kimmel Live tonight.
Update: Just watched it here in the Pacific time zone and was laughing so hard I was afraid I’d wake up my roommate. Please, if anyone has screen shots of George Foreman looking aghast send them to me. Hopefully The Malcontent will have video posted soon.
Update 2: God bless The Malcontent, they’ve got video of it now.
Update 3: Poor George…
My partner watched Cohen try to give his cuddle therapy to an alarmed George Foreman.
I tuned into Jimmy Kimmel right as Richard Cohen appeared–talk about good timing. As a former client of Cohen, it was slightly surreal seeing him on a late night talk show…where a couple straight men didn’t bother challenging anything Cohen brought up.
During one of my two sessions with the doctor, he actually told me that having sex with woman can be “fun” in trying to figure out how to please them. He said that his definition of beauty expanded to include the female figure…but he didn’t convince me he was sexually attracted to woman.
Lets just say that if I were Jimmy Kimmel I would have asked a few different questions…
I just caught the second half of his appearance. It’s pretty obvious they were playing him as a circus act. Kimmel gave him a tennis racquet and asked him to do the “bioenergetics” thing, then asked him to demonstrate “how he holds the guy.” George Foreman was in the next seat and seemed visibly disturbed at one point. Still, he went along with the gag somewhat, letting Cohen (sort of) hold him. It was pretty pathetic all around. When asked, Cohen actually claimed an 85% permanent success rate, saying that he tracked them to keep tabs. Kimmel made a point to ask about that.
The way Cohen describes “bioenergetics” reminds me of a nutty, almost cult-like group started by Arthur Janov (Primal Scream guy from the 70’s). Lots of talk about pain stored in the cells of the body and such. Coincidentally, they also believe that homosexuality is a deviation and can be healed (through their “therapy”). One thing is for certain, with Cohen prancing around like a trained monkey on these talk shows, few people are going to take anything he is connected with seriously.
David Roberts
It is just coming on here in the Midwest now. . .but so far these comments are great – maybe they should be forwarded to the Jimmy Kimmel Show.
My sense was that Kimmel, Foreman, and a producer all were aghast that Cohen was saying these things with a straight face.
The surprise, to me, was Kimmel wrapping up with a big promo for Cohen’s book as if it were brand-new and Cohen was on a book tour.
David,
I don’t think there is anything ‘coincidental’ in the fact that Richard Cohen’s Bioenergetics, which is based on Alexander Lowen’s work (Coming Out Straight, p. 152), and Arthur Janov’s Primal Therapy both regard homosexuality as a deviation. Given Reich’s view of homosexuality, this is what one would expect from post-Reichian therapies, and Bioenergetics and Primal Scream both fall into that category. I think there is a certain amount of mutual influence between them. Barbara Bray’s article on the development of Primal Therapy (https://www.primalcenter.com/article2.html) identifies Lowen’s Bioenergetics as one source for Janov, and Lowen refers to Janov’s work (Bioenergetics, p. 278).
Did he even know he was being played?!
I believe the expression that applies here is “Give ’em enough rope.”
“When asked, Cohen actually claimed an 85% permanent success rate, saying that he tracked them to keep tabs. Kimmel made a point to ask about that.”
HOLD THE PRESSES!
85% success rate!?
Documented!?
Why hasn’t Cohen published this: this would be a revolutionary breakthru in the treatment of anything?
Oh, he made up the statistic on the spot? I forget, lying is OK for a good cause.
:rolleyes:
When the camera panned to Foreman and he rolled his eyes, I thought I would wet myself I was laughing so hard. I wonder if Cohen takes himself as seriously as he thinks everyone else does.
j.
“One thing is for certain, with Cohen prancing around like a trained monkey on these talk shows, few people are going to take anything he is connected with seriously.”
Which is why Throckmorton, to his credit, dropped Cohen and PFOX as soon as Cohen started started behaving strangely on prime time.
I believe Jimmy Kimmel’s girlfriend is still Sarah Silverman) and I heard that she refuses to get married until gay people can.
After Kimmel leaves, Silverman says marriage is not in the cards. “I don’t want to belong to some kind of cult that doesn’t include everybody. That disgusts me. That gay people can’t get married is just so absurd. I don’t want to be part of it. Plus, I just like being lovaaaahs.”
After watching that video I feel like writing Cohen a thank you letter. None of us could possibly make reparative therapy look as ridiculous as he does.
Brett
Cohen claimed he does follow-up. Anyone want to refute that? Surely we have a few Cohen victims that read here.
So Cohen goes on and on about the lack of scientific evidence that one is born gay, yet he believes that the muscles hold our subconscious memories??? He is a wacko and a dangerous one at that.
He called reading Rosie O’Donnell’s bio doing a case study?
Kimmel called him on that. But it’s disgusting that people like Cohen can get away with making their claims.
Since comedians like Kimmel and John Stewart are quick witted, perhaps Cohen’s claims work most on the less so.
Either way, he’s getting national air time and book plugs.
In his picture with his wife, sorry to say…she looks more like she could be his mother.
And we know that Cohen has issues with that…
BTW, I would love to know what Rosie has to say to Cohen and I’m sure she would have some colorful instructions on where he could stick his book.
ab said:
I don’t think there is anything ‘coincidental’ in the fact that Richard Cohen’s Bioenergetics, which is based on Alexander Lowen’s work (Coming Out Straight, p. 152), and Arthur Janov’s Primal Therapy both regard homosexuality as a deviation.
Arthur Janov believes that everyone who hasn’t experienced their early (primal) pain via his brand of “therapy” is a deviation in every way, or in his terminology I believe, neurotic. As a survivor of this nonsense, I assure you it comes as close to a cult as any supposed psychotherapy ever has. We (as in human beings) are all “sick” and there is only one way to be “cured” – pay them money and, at least in those days, live at the facility (institute) during the lengthy process. While at some point or another I believe he makes it clear that he is an atheist, the religious overtones are hard to miss. It’s truly junk science at it’s finest.
So if Cohen has derived anything from Janov or the same bag from which Janov pulled his own tricks, it’s not hard to understand why he comes off as a nut.
I noticed Janov mentioned on the resource page of an ex-gay website (half way down) related to Exodus. His views on were being used to counter the idea of a biological cause to homosexuality. What’s amusing is that Janov also considers a faith in God to be just as neurotic and curable as he does same sex attraction. Obviously they didn’t do their homework on that one!
David Roberts
Just actually viewed the video.
He’s healed “hundreds!” With an 85% success rate across 16 years? Using bioenergetics and hug therapy.
Anybody else here see a problem with this? I mean really, wouldn’t this be unprecedented?
The expression on George Forman’s face says it all.
My own face couldn’t have said it better.
If George Forman looks at you like you’re crazy….YOU CRAZY GIRL!
In Middle America, though, is Cohen really making himself look stupid — or is he making homosexuals look gullible for hiring him when they could just become straight for free?
I think Cohen got a woodie holding Foreman. I think this guy is creepy….. And yes, he is attracked to Kimmel.
Mike said:
In Middle America, though, is Cohen really making himself look stupid — or is he making homosexuals look gullible for hiring him when they could just become straight for free?
I guess that would depend on what percentage of people in Middle America believe that one can change one’s sexual orientation. My gut feeling is that the average American is getting the idea that one does not slip in and out of homosexuality (or heterosexuality for that matter). Therefore, I suspect that Cohen just looks stupid to them. It’s mostly speculation but that’s my take.
Besides, isn’t Jimmy Kimmel Live primarily a comedy based talk show? I think there is an unspoken rule about someone who represents a serious subject appearing on such shows, rather like William Bennett on The John Stuart Show. It is humorous for a guest to espouse something so absurd with a straight face (no pun intended). I don’t think the show’s producers would have considered him funny enough to put on if they believed most people considered changing from gay to straight a viable alternative.
Consider this; when was the last time you saw a psychotherapist on a similar show getting laughs for how they treat patients with say, depression or anorexia?
David Roberts
Oh my word Daniel, thank you for the comic relief! I laughed until my eyes teared watching this thing.
Okay, the guy has no credentials and has been judged unethical by his peers, as reported here:
https://www.pamspaulding.com/weblog/2006/05/inside-ex-gay-therapy.html.
And how can he possibly debunk all the studies that show some kind of genetic link to gayness? What about it cropping up in the animal kingdom? Do gay penguins, giraffes and dolphins have trouble relating to their same-sex parents???????
Well, that would explain the giraffe I saw the other day whacking a pillow with a tennis racket and screaming about his mother. And here I was going to chalk it up to those mushrooms…
Converting to heterosexuality is much harder then converting to Christianity, huh Cohen.
ROFLMAO! That’s a good one Boo!