Cassie Cooper 1929-2018

Cassie Cooper was a practising Kleinian trained psychoanalytic Psychotherapist/ Counselling Psychologist who practiced Attachment Based Psychotherapy.

Cassie’s writing career encompassed two main themes, both of equal importance. After a first degree in psychology and philosophy, her early years were as an employee of the ancient and prestigious Hebrew academic publishing house Soncino Press (London) during which she contributed to the publication of the revised edition of The Soncino Babylonian Talmud, and other seminal academic volumes on biblical subjects including Jewish History, religion, poetry, philosophy, mysticism, The Zohar and The Faith of Judiaism.

After marriage and the birth of two children, Judi and Jonathan, Cassie returned to university to obtain further degrees and a doctorate in psychology, psychoanalytic psychotherapy and counselling. In these fields she is well known and has published widely, contributing chapters in sixteen educational textbooks, specialising in the works of Melanie Klein and Dr John Bowlby (who was her personal supervisor). She is a founding member and Fellow of BACP and was an active member of UKCP until very recently.

Additionally she has contributed to fourteen textbooks on psychology, psychotherapy and counselling, some of which have been translated into Italian and German.

She was formerly a chairperson of The Psychotherapy Section of the British Psychological Society, and Editor of its newsletter for many years. Cassie was head of Student Counselling at the University of Westminster (Harrow Campus) and head of its Diploma in Counselling Courses.

She relocated to Truro, Cornwall in 2011 and continued to work there. Cassie acted as a consultant to Carlton TV and The Metropolitan Police on counselling issues. Her recent Doctorate was on Cult Membership as a Disorder of Attachment.

Cassie died very peacefully on Saturday 29th July with her family around her.

Speaking at her funeral her granddaughter Jessika Green said: 'Cassie was magnetic. Her wisdom and generosity in sharing that wisdom was inspirational. Always learning her curiosity for the world continued right up to her last days. She was also – and somewhat proudly – a right old pain in the bum, with a wicked sense of humour and a penchant for inappropriate comments, usually of a rather bawdy nature, masked as psychological theory. She revelled in the loss of inhibition and politeness that comes with old age and her eyes would twinkle when, having dropped a bombshell – usually at the family dinner table – she’d get the reaction she was after in gasps or a heated debate.… Thank you for all that you taught me, for introducing me to and nourishing my own inner world.'