Bella is a PsyD doctoral practicum extern at Milika with a Master’s in Clinical Psychology who is passionate about helping individuals of all ages find strength and resilience in the face of life’s challenges. While her primary passion going into graduate school was neuropsychological assessment, which stemmed from her undergraduate training in neuroscience and neuropsychological research, her love for therapy was sparked by her recent experience as a therapist in a partial hospitalization/intensive outpatient program (PHP/IOP) in which she worked with adolescents and adults to address emotional dysregulation, phase-of-life issues, anxiety, depression, various personality pathologies, and suicidal ideation.

Bella is particularly interested in continuing her training in therapy with children, adolescents, parents, and adults, tackling issues ranging from anxiety, depression, and emotion dysregulation to low self-esteem, self-destructive behaviors, and life transitions. Additionally, Bella’s extensive background as a competitive golfer sparked her early passion for psychology when, as a child, she first learned about careers in sports psychology. This early exposure inspired her interest in working with student-athletes and others navigating achievement-related challenges. Having personally experienced the unique pressures of competitive athletics and demanding academic environments, Bella understands how performance anxiety, burnout, perfectionism, and identity struggles tied to achievement can negatively affect mental health.

Bella integrates evidence-based practices such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) while tailoring her approach to each individual’s unique needs, goals, and personality. She maintains a recovery-oriented approach in which she helps guide her clients in building lives that feel meaningful to them, whatever that may look like. Bella strives to create a warm, nonjudgmental, and collaborative stance where clients can explore their experiences, develop effective coping skills, and move towards meaningful and sustainable change. She believes that, although therapy is deeply meaningful work, it does not always need to be heavy; therefore, she often incorporates humor and lightheartedness when appropriate so as to create a space where clients can feel safe, supported, and even find moments of laughter as they work towards meaningful and sustainable change.