Bear Bell

Bear is the newest member of the Sand Story team. While tiny in stature, she is big at heart. Bear is currently in training to be a certified Therapy Assist Dog, and she does the training along with her co-therapist, Deborah Bell. She won’t be fully trained for 18 months, so she is not yet engaging fully with clients, but she is getting used to being in the office and saying hello. Bear is excited to work with clients who are interested in this approach when she has completed her training, however, clients can always choose not to participate in animal assisted therapy. 

In consideration of those clients with allergies, Bear keeps to her office, although she can sometimes be seen passing through the waiting room. Any clients with severe allergies to dogs, need to make choices about their therapist with this in mind, as we cannot guarantee zero secondary exposure. While Bear learns how to be a therapist, she is not allowed to sit with clients or be pet randomly with people she is not introduced to. This is to make sure that her training is effective and that the clients have positive interactions with her. Bear is excited to be learning from an attachment based model and eager to begin working when her training is done. She can be followed on Instagram @sandstory_psychology.