I work with individuals, young and old, couples and families who are inclined to speak of their lives just as they live it and not necessarily from the position of a diagnosis. I treat transitions, grief, depression, and anxiety and these responses to living all look different on each person. Sometimes what we name things changes what they are and sometimes a diagnosis is useful and necessary. Together we can have an experience of feeling "sorted out." Counseling from the depth perspective is about developing a kind of flexibility to be with one's experience in all its complexity rather a rigid, reactive response to living. Together we will discover what may be the source of your suffering as well its meaning and then make decisions. Sometimes we discover that one is in therapy doing the work for someone else who is not in the room themselves. That is quite liberating for the client.

I can help with depression and mood disorders. Therapy ought to be the place where ALL of a person is invited in, not only the suffering self, but the future self waiting for expression. I believe also that we live in a time of fear, pervasive and subtle messages that affect us all, and the work of therapy is to metabolize that fear by making it conscious and by making decisions. I believe this work makes a person less afraid. Being well-adjusted to an odd culture is not a measure of health. More and more, the real risk for a person is how to live deeply, to have one's own experience and meaning--no matter how it looks and feels.

Therapy and consultation work on a sliding scale, between $120.00 to $160.00 a session, and sessions generally run 60 minutes. I do not accept insurance because I believe people need a place to go and speak in private, to own their own information, to say what they want and not be pathologized by the doctor. Insurance requires all of these in the process of therapy: who, for how long, a diagnosis, and poor accountability concerning one’s information. I do not wish to participate that practice. I will provide for you an invoice as an "Out of Network" provider that can be submitted to your insurance company. Often insurance companies reimburse at about 70% of your fee.

Call or email Joel Bell for your free phone consultation now - (206) 240-9877.

Niche Specialty:

• Emotional Disturbance

Education Supporting Specialty:

I also work from the perspective embraced in Existential Phenomenology.

Also Addressed in My Practice:

• Couples Counseling
• Grief & Loss

My Qualifications:

Years in Practice: 9 Years
Highest Degree: Ph.D.
School: Pacifica Graduate Institute
Year Graduated: 2010
License No. and State: LH00010780 WA

• State Approved Supervisor

Finances:

Sliding Scale: Yes
Initial Free Face to Face Consulation: No
Free Telephone Consulation: Yes
Accepted Payment Methods: Check, Visa, Mastercard