Northampton, MA – Dr. Joan Berzoff died on April 8, 2026, after a long battle with cancer. She chose to end her life through Medical Assistance in Dying in Vermont, surrounded by her loving husband and two sons.
Joan’s joyful spirit was irrepressible. She was a wife, mother, aunt, grandmother, teacher, scholar, mentor, and inveterate walker. Just before she died, she finished a memoir about having had a completed life. She wrote about being a mischievous child, her formative Quaker camp experiences, left-wing political development, wonderful marriage to Lew Cohen – her spouse, frequent collaborator and co-parent – two remarkable sons and daughters-in-laws, dazzling academic career, and numerous, longstanding friendships. In addition to the memoir, she composed picture books for her six grandchildren.
Joan was born in New York City and grew up in Great Neck, Long Island. She was politically involved in left-wing causes, including a trip to the Mississippi Delta for voter registration and campus activism against the Vietnam War. She held degrees from Washington University, Smith College School for Social Work, and Boston University.
Joan’s professional career began in community mental health at Tufts New England Medical Center. She joined the faculty of the Smith College School for Social Work in 1980 where she cultivated her passions for mentoring students, writing, and finding creative teaching methods to apply psychodynamic theories to vulnerable and at-risk populations. She wrote four textbooks, including the co-edited Inside Out and Outside In: Psychodynamic Theories with Vulnerable and At- Risk Clients, often referred to by social work students as their “bible.” She likewise edited or co-edited Falling Through the Cracks: Psychodynamic Practice with Vulnerable Populations, Living with Dying, and Controversies in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Dissociative Identity Disorders.
While at Smith, Joan started the first national palliative care program for social workers, which she led for 15 years. She chaired the theory sequence in the Master’s Program and co-directed the Doctoral Program, nurturing generations of future practitioner scholars while collaborating closely: presenting, writing and teaching together. She was an inspiring and beloved teacher who also loved her work with adjunct faculty.
Smith provided many opportunities for her to teach across the world, including in Bulgaria, Hong Kong, Sweden, and Israel. Smith also freed Joan to attend four one-month fellowships in Italy where she completed several books and some of the 48 articles she published. She made lifelong friends during those fellowships with activists, poets, novelists, composers, translators, and performing artists.
Joan always maintained a clinical private practice, seeing patients from her home on Harrison Avenue and by Zoom from Pine Island Lake in Westhampton. She cared deeply for her clients and found true meaning in their personal progress.
After leaving Smith, Joan joined the faculty of the Institute for Clinical Social Work in Chicago where she taught, wrote and mentored doctoral students. Upon her retirement, she was appointed Professor Emerita. She was lauded for her compassion, commitment to vulnerable populations, generosity, and passion for teaching and learning. The ICSW recently established a scholarship in Joan’s name: The Dr. Joan Berzoff Social Service Scholarship. The scholarship supports students who demonstrate a strong commitment to clinical practice and work with vulnerable and underserved populations. ICSW announced, “Through this scholarship Dr. Berzoff’s legacy will continue to empower future clinicians dedicated to healing, advocacy, and compassionate care.”
While Joan’s career was a constant source of joy and passion, she was most proud of her family. Joan was married to Lew Cohen for 47 years. They traveled the world together and were a force of nature in securing grants, finding writing fellowships, developing research projects, and in simply being together: walking, swimming, reading, talking, and laughing. Their sons, Zeke and Jake, grew into principled, kind, smart, and funny men, both of whom, along with their wives, are deeply committed to social justice and public service. Jake is the Executive Director of Congregation Beth Israel, Austin Texas’s historic, progressive Reform synagogue, while Zeke is the President of the City Council of Baltimore. Each is married to spirited, funny, smart, and accomplished women. Zeke’s wife is Dr. Reena Ardeshna, a Baltimore psychiatrist, and Jake is married to Dr. Libby Cohen, the Executive Director of Raise Your Hand Texas, a state-wide nonprofit advocacy organization committed to fighting for public education. Joan adored both women. She and Lew often wondered, given who their sons became, what they had done right!
Joan leaves behind six beloved grandchildren: Micah and Claire Cohen, Maya and Eli Cohen, and Hanna B and Jonah Bussler. Joan and Lew’s family also includes 17 nieces and nephews, and their many delightful spouses.
Joan approached her death fully convinced that she was fortunate in having lived life to the fullest.
To honor Joan’s legacy, please consider contributing either to the ICSW scholarship, at https://www.icsw.edu/online-giving-resource – Select “Dedication” and enter in the name “Joan Berzoff” – or to the General Fund of Congregation Beth Israel, her son’s synagogue in Austin, TX, at https://www.bethisrael.org/donate, which is rebuilding after an act of anti-semitism.
A memorial service will take place later this year, date and location to be announced.
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