Donald Cohen was born in New York in 1951 where he spent his childhood. He graduated from the State University of New York at Buffalo. He went on to earn his M.S.W. at Columbia University and his PH.D. in clinical psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology, located in Berkley, California.

He returned to the East Coast to complete his fellowship in the Department of Psychiatry at Yale University Medical Center, as well as to begin his private practice. The author has also created, produced, and hosted the weekly television and radio show, Kids Are Talking. He is a licensed marital and family therapist, and has had various articles published over the years while conducting lectures and workshops on subjects related to children, particularly communication. He recently completed three volumes of poetry, which were released this past year, titled Memory Man.