Dr Anna Cohen 

Clinical Psychologist · Area of Practice Endorsement in Clinical Psychology · Board-Approved Supervisor 

Dr Anna Cohen is a registered psychologist with an Area of Practice Endorsement in Clinical Psychology, granted by the Psychology Board of Australia, and a Board-Approved Supervisor. She has worked with children, adolescents and families for more than three decades.

Her work is known for its practical, compassionate approach and for translating psychological theory into language and method that parents, educators and clinicians can actually use. It consistently focuses on strengthening the adults around a child, so that the child can feel safe, understood and able to thrive.

Before establishing private practice, Dr Cohen worked throughout the New South Wales public health system, holding clinical positions at the Illawarra Community Health Centre, Illawarra Sexual Assault Service, Northern Sydney Child Protection Service, Corral Tree Family Service, Redbank House at Westmead Hospital, and the Growth and Development Clinic at Westmead Hospital. These roles provided broad and intensive experience in the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of children and young people presenting with psychiatric, developmental, emotional and behavioural difficulties, with extensive experience in trauma and child protection.

In 1999 she co-founded Kids & Co Clinical Psychology, a child and adolescent psychology practice now operating across five locations in New South Wales and Queensland, providing psychological assessment and treatment for children, adolescents and young adults from birth to 25 years of age. The practice brings together a team of Clinical Psychologists with a range of clinical experience, so that each child and family can be matched with a clinician suited to their needs.

In 2014 she co-founded Heads & Tails Clinical Psychology, a service that takes therapy beyond the four walls of the consulting room. Set in natural surroundings and enriched by the presence of horses, Heads & Tails offers psychological care in a setting that supports emotional regulation and connection — reflecting Dr Cohen’s view that therapeutic change happens most readily when children feel safe, connected and understood.

Across more than three decades of practice, Dr Cohen has developed a particular interest in helping parents feel more confident and capable in raising emotionally healthy children. Her work rests on the belief that parenting is a skill that can be learned, and that children do better when the adults around them feel skilled, calm and connected. That philosophy underpins her clinical work, her writing, her teaching and her supervision, and it is the foundation of the Regulated Parenting Model™, developed through the Better Parent Academy.

She is the author of five books on parenting and child psychology:

• Skilful Parent, Happy Child (2023)
• Taming Teens (2019)
• Parenting Made Easy: A Bag of Tricks Approach to Parenting the 1–5-Year-Old (2015)
• Parenting Made Easy: A Bag of Tricks Approach to Parenting the 6–12-Year-Old (2013)
• The Psychological Effect of a Disclosure of Child Sexual Assault: Implications for Assessment and Intervention Practices for Children and Families Affected by Child Sexual Abuse (2011)

Her peer-reviewed publications span attachment, gifted children, and the disclosure of child sexual assault.

Dr Cohen is a presenter, supervisor and educator who has trained psychologists, counsellors, teachers, social workers and health professionals across Australia and internationally, and has developed professional development programmes and webinars in child therapy, trauma, school refusal, anxiety, emotional regulation, parenting and child development. She combines clinical evidence with practical strategies that clinicians can integrate directly into their work with children and families.

She co-founded the Clinical Psychology Resource Centre with Isabel Fraser to close the gap between theoretical training and applied clinical skill.

Whether working with a child in therapy, mentoring clinicians, supporting schools, writing for parents or speaking to professional audiences, her aim is the same: to strengthen the adults in children’s lives.

Isabel began her career in addiction medicine and clinical research across major Sydney tertiary services, including Royal Prince Alfred Hospital Drug Health Services, the Brain and Mind Research Institute, Westmead Hospital and the Cumberland Centre for Addiction Medicine.

Her work included complex caseloads, diagnostic and risk assessment, relapse-prevention counselling and coordination of a double-blind randomised controlled pharmacotherapy trial involving functional MRI and pharmacokinetics.

Since 2019, she has practised at Kids & Co Clinical Psychology and Heads & Tails Psychology and Counselling, extending her expertise into child, adolescent and family psychology, psychological assessment, differential diagnosis and evidence-based intervention.

She is a co-author of peer-reviewed research published in journals including The British Journal of Psychiatry, Addiction and European Neuropsychopharmacology, and is currently completing her PhD at Western Sydney University.