Dr. Bell holds a special passion for helping couples repair and improve their relationships, and has spent much of her academic and professional career conducting clinical research on relationship satisfaction. She is able to meet the needs of her diverse clientele by treating the full spectrum of relationship problems, from pre-marital jitters to affairs or possible separation, using evidence-based psychotherapy tools to enhance couples' communication and conflict resolution.
Dr. Bell's versatile evidence-based approach to couples therapy draws upon several methodological schools:
Integrative Behavioral Couples Therapy
Emotional Focused Therapy
Cognitive-Behavioral Conjoint Couple Therapy for PTSD
Gottman Institute principles and methods.
PAIRS (provided in workshops with Dr. Lynn Turner)
The PROCESS:
At its core, Dr. Bell's therapy process centers on a collaborative relationship between therapist and client, relying heavily on mutual respect and trust. When seeing Dr. Bell, couples first go through a structured assessment, feedback, and then start therapy. The assessment phase consists of a joint interview (with both partners) about their difficulties and relationship history. Each partner is then provided with a detailed questionnaire packet to complete and bring back to the next session. Next, both partners schedule an individual session in which Dr. Bell conducts separate interviews to understand individual perspectives of the problems and difficulties. After the individual interviews, Dr. Bell then constructs a comprehensive feedback session for the couple and provides a framework for better understanding the relationship difficulties faced. This feedback often helps the couple throughout the therapy process. In Dr. Bell's experience, using a tailored therapeutic framework that takes into account a couple's background, personality, and worldview is more effective than a one-size-fits-all approach. For this reason, it is essential that Dr. Bell and the couple have a collaborative understanding of the relationship in order to select the best theoretical approach to the couples' therapy and for the process moving forward.
For long-distance couples, couples with difficulties leaving the home, or couples who simply prefer to do therapy from the comfort of their home, Dr. Bell offers an online virtual therapy option. For more information, please see the Telehealth page. If you are interested in this option, please let Dr. Bell know in your initial contact.