Photos: Chris Emeott
A new co-working space fills need for therapists post-pandemic.
Therapists in the Edina area have a new place to call home.
Over the past three years since the beginning of the pandemic, there’s been a significant change in how—and more specifically, where—therapists work with clients. The American Psychological Association reports that, in this timeframe, 58 percent of psychologists have pivoted to a hybrid model of remote and in-person care, embracing long-term telehealth for the benefits it offers some clients. This changes things for therapists who may no longer require a traditional office space lease.
Enter Therapy Suites, a co-working space for mental health professionals created by therapist and entrepreneur Christina Hansen Cohen, Psy.D., L.P. When Hansen Cohen returned to Minnesota after 15 years in Florida, the biggest struggle wasn’t in finding a home—it was securing an office space for her business, Edina Psychology. The search dragged on for weeks, then months; it wasn’t until Hansen Cohen dared to dream bigger that she found her perfect fit.
“This is a huge growth for me. [It’s] totally out of my comfort zone,” Hansen Cohen says.
Located at The E building in Edina (the former Regis Corporation building), the intention behind Therapy Suites is to help therapists lower their costs and level up their care. With space for up to 30 therapists to work, members gain access to private offices for in-person sessions and private phone booths for telehealth sessions through six different membership levels.
Other amenities include a waiting room with a receptionist; a play therapy room; psychological testing kits for diagnosing patients (which Hansen Cohen says can save clinicians a lot of money, since they don’t have to purchase full kits themselves); a 10-person meeting room; and a kitchenette and cozy common area for therapists “to just create that harmony and community and feel of ‘you belong,’” Hansen Cohen says.
For Mo Laschen, an Edina resident and licensed professional clinical counselor who recently started Springwood Therapy in Edina, hearing about Therapy Suites through the grapevine felt “serendipitous.”
“Some of my hesitations when starting a private practice were start-up costs, finding a space that would fit my needs and leaving a corporate job to work on my own,” she says. “So when I stumbled across Therapy Suites, all those concerns were washed away a little bit in a sense that the space is beautiful, [and] it is so incredibly reasonably priced; it was jaw dropping.”
Laschen says she is also looking forward to having “the opportunity to build a community while still having the autonomy of owning my own practice and running my own schedule …”
The build-out of the space took a little over six months; Hansen Cohen brought in HGA Design and Consulting for the floor plan, and local builder Mike Johnson executed the build-out, from tear-down to final painting. Hansen Cohen herself designed the space, picking out colors and furniture, which she sourced from Rypen at the Galleria.
Christina Hansen Cohen
Now that it’s complete, she’s most excited to see therapists using the space to support their clients and help people heal. “Seeing therapists’ clients feel good in the space and therapists feeling good in this space—that excites me,” she says. “… [It] was very important to me that it was welcoming to people from all walks of life.”
Not only that, but she says, “Therapy Suites gave Edina Psychology a home, just like I would like it to give other people’s private practices a home.”
Therapy Suites
7201 Metro Blvd. Suite 550; 952.491.6437
Instagram: @therapysuitesedina
