Footprint was founded as an expression of Hope, Protest, and Respect by its founders, Sarosh Cooper, PhD and Herzel Yerushalmi, PhD, LPC. Footprint's staff and services aspire to offer hope for a more satisfying life, a space to voice protest, and a deep respect for all of us being simply human. This is an experience that diminishes feelings of hurt and fuels empowerment, self-respect and purpose. These principles have served as a compass for Dr. Cooper and Dr. Yerushalmi for decades in their individual clinical practice and as colleagues at Rutger's University for the past 10 years prior to founding Footprint.
Sarosh Cooper, PhD
Sarosh Cooper, PhD was born in Union City, NJ and raised in Northern New Jersey. From a young age, he was keenly aware of the emotional difficulties and hurt people were going through. He graduated with his B.A. from George Washington University with a major in psychology. He spent the next year traveling throughout Africa, Asia, and South America before settling in San Francisco to pursue his doctorate in Clinical Psychology at the California School of Professional Psychology. There he immersed himself in working with children, adolescents, and families from the inner cities of Oakland and Richmond, CA. He worked passionately with young people and families most in need. Then, in 2006, he relocated back to the New York Metropolitan Area, and spent the next 10 years at Rutger's University (formerly UMDNJ), as the lead clinician/assistant clinical director of the Adolescent Therapeutic Day School where he served hundreds of children, teenagers and their families. In 2013, Dr. Cooper established a part-time private practice in Jersey City, NJ. He is deeply committed to issues of social justice, the power of relationships, and providing the best care possible to those most in need as a psychologist, husband, son, father, and founding partner of Footprint New Jersey.
Herzel Yerushalmi, PhD, LPC
Herzel Yerushalmi, PhD was born in Tehran, Iran. At age 13, he immigrated to Israel. While there, he completed his undergraduate and master's degrees in history and clinical psychology at Tel-Aviv University. After completing his education there, he worked extensively with issues of sexual orientation and gender identity. In 1991, he remarried and immigrated with his new family to the United States. While in Los Angeles, CA, he worked with dually diagnosed teenagers and adults. In 1993, he and his family moved to the New York Metropolitan Area, where he took a clinical position at Rutger's University (formerly UMDNJ). In 1998, Herzel wrote and published his first book, "Psychobiographic Approach to Psychotherapy: A Study of the Power Structure of Psychotherapy." The book was well received and dubbed, "an important classic" and "revolutionary." He spent the next 20 years further developing and expanding his ideas about psychotherapy and its potential for empowerment as a Counselor and Clinical Program Director. He successfully treated hundreds of children, teenagers, and families as well as consulted, supervised, and mentored generations of counselors and therapists as the heart and soul of the Adolescent Therapeutic Day School. Dr. Yerushalmi deeply values issues of social justice and finding creative solutions to life's difficulties as a counselor, artist, writer, father, husband, and founding partner of Footprint New Jersey.
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