Dr. Deborah Bell

Dr. Bell is a registered psychologist who has been dedicated to empowering children and parents for over 20 years. Dr. Bell’s work includes providing therapy to individuals, families, and parents as well as assessments. She has a background working with children and adults who have histories of trauma. These clients have come to Dr. Bell with a wide background of experiences, for example: physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, and foster care. Dr. Bell provides workshops and presentations internationally and across Canada on a multitude of topics in parenting and children’s mental wellness. She is an experienced and energetic speaker. Dr. Bell has specialized training in the area of Infant Mental Health. Dr. Bell has been trained in wide range of attachment-based approaches, including Circle of Security. She provides clinical services to families as well as supervision and training to professionals. Her work is based on the early relationships between parent and caregiver, as well as how your brain influences behaviour. She takes great joy in working with the relationships between infants (ages 0-5 years) and their caregivers and seeing the transformation of little ones’ behaviour as their caregiver gains confidence and understanding.  In addition, Dr. Bell works with clients living with anxiety, depression, behavioural challenges, and family roadblocks to healthy relationships. Dr. Bell brings an attachment lens to all she does. This means that, in both therapy and assessment, Dr. Bell pays attention to the relationships in a person’s life and how those relationships may be impacting how they are feeling. Dr. Bell has extensive training in cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), narrative therapy, attachment-based therapies, Gordon Neufeld’s approach and play therapy. Dr. Bell tailors her approach to each individual according to client needs, situation and current research. Dr. Bell is pleased to offer full psychoeducational assessments for children, youth and adults, providing comprehensive reports that take into account the essence of the person beyond what is found in the school setting. Dr. Bell believes in assessments that go beyond reporting test scores, but to reflect the circumstances and characteristics of the person assessed. These assessments are used in all different contexts: Learning Disability Diagnosis; Giftedness; University Admission; Private School Admission; IQ Testing. Dr. Bell also provides Section 211 assessment reports for the courts for parents involved in High Conflict divorce. These assessments provide support to the court to make decisions in the best interest of the child. 
Since 2013, Dr. Bell has worked with Shaun Phillips in the development and implementation with the project Seeds of Hope: Creating Change by Building Connection and Capacity in Community in the First Nations community of Long Lake #58 in Ontario. This community wide attachment based project focuses on creating change through re-connecting parents, teachers and community with the attachment instincts that were lost through colonization and residential schooling. In addition, Dr. Bell has consulted with other Indigenous communities as far as Australia, to bring an attachment perspective to their healing initiatives.

Dr. Bell in the Media:

• Bullying: Town-Hall Discussion
• How to Help Your Toddler Kick Her Pacifier Habit
• Balancing Business and Baby: When Mommy Guilt and Business Guilt Compete
• What to Say When Your Child Asks Where Babies Come From?