Kathryn Bell,
Professor
Email address: kathryn.bell@acadiau.ca
Telephone: (902) 585-1408
Office location: Horton Hall 310
Lab location: Horton Hall 412 & 414
Classes recently taught: Abnormal Psychology, Psychotherapy II: Intervention Skills, Special Topics in Applied Psychology: Science and Pseudoscience in Clinical Psychology
Dr. Bell is on sabbatical from July 1, 2023 until June 30, 2024 and will not be accepting honours or graduate students for the 2023-2024 academic year.
EDUCATION
B.A., Capital University
M.A., Western Michigan University
Ph.D., Western Michigan University
Clinical Internship (APA Accredited), Boston Consortium
Clinical Research Postdoctoral Fellowship, The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Dr. Kathryn Bell is a clinical psychologist with broad research interests in interpersonal violence, including intimate partner violence (IPV), sexual assault, and childhood abuse. She is interested in utilizing a contextually-based framework to identify risk factors that are proximally and dynamically associated with episodes of interpersonal violence perpetration and victimization. Over the years, Dr. Bell has used this framework to investigate the influences of posttraumatic stress symptoms, childhood trauma, emotion regulation skills, experiential avoidance, substance use problems, expected and actual consequences of aggression, and verbal rules on adult interpersonal violence. Dr. Bell has secondary research interests in addictions, particularly as substance use relates to risk for interpersonal violence. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, she has also been examining the impact of the pandemic on relational and mental well-being.
Dr. Bell is a registered psychologist with expertise in the assessment and treatment of adults with anxiety, trauma-related disorders, addictions, and associated conditions. She has specialized training and experience in the delivery of prolonged exposure (PE) and Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), single-session exposure treatment for specific phobias, behavioral activation for depression, panic control treatment, mindfulness-based approaches and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and Behavioral Couples Therapy for co-morbid addiction and relationship problems.
Dr. Bell welcomes honours students, graduate students, and volunteers to join her lab.
REPRESENTATIVE PUBLICATIONS
Holmberg, D., Bell, K.M., & Cadman, K. (2022). Now for the good news: Self-perceived positive effects of the first pandemic wave on romantic relationships outweigh the negative. Journal of Social & Personal Relationships. 39(1), 34-55. doi: 10.1177/02654075211050939
Wyngarden, N.W., Bell, K.M., & Cornelius, T.L. (2022). Verbal arguments that precede dating violence perpetration: A qualitative analysis. Violence and Victims. 37(2), 260-276. doi: 10.1891/VV-D-19-00124. PMID: 35354655
Stuart, G.L., Shorey, R.C., France, C.R., Macfie, J., Bell, K., Fortner, K.B., Towers, C.V., Schkolnik, P., & Ramsey, S. (2018). Empirical studies addressing the opioid epidemic: An urgent call for research. Substance Abuse: Research and Treatment, 12, 1-4. doi: 10.1177/1178221818784294
Sherrill, A.S, Magliano, J.P., Rosenbaum, A., Bell, K.M., & Wallace, P. (2016). Stopping violence: Can inhibitory rules reduce aggressive responding? Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment, and Trauma, 25(5), 487 – 502. doi: 10.1080/10926771.2015.1121192
Sherrill, A.S, Bell, K.M., & Wyngarden, N. (2016). A qualitative examination of situational risk recognition among female victims of physical intimate partner violence. Violence Against Women, 22(8), 966 – 985. doi: 10.1177/1077801215616706
Cornelius, T.L., Bell, K.M., Wyngarden, N., & Shorey, R.C. (2015). What happens after I hit? A qualitative analysis of the consequences of dating violence. Violence and Victims, 30(3), 393-416.
Bell, K.M., & Higgins, L. (2015). The impact of childhood emotional abuse and experiential avoidance on maladaptive problem solving and intimate partner violence. Behavioral Sciences, 5, 154 – 175. doi: 10.3390/bs5020154
Kendra, R., Bell, K.M., & Guimond, J. (2012). The impact of child abuse history, PTSD symptoms, and anger arousal on dating violence perpetration among college women. Journal of Family Violence, 27, 165-175
Sherrill, A.M., Wyngarden, N., & Bell, K.M. (2011). Expected outcomes of dating violence: Perspectives from female perpetrators. Partner Abuse, 2(4), 404-426.
Bell, K.M., & Orcutt, H.K. (2009). Posttraumatic stress disorder and male-perpetrated intimate partner violence. JAMA, 302(5), 562 – 564.
Bell, K.M., & Naugle, A.E. (2008). The role of emotion recognition skills in adult sexual revictimization. Journal of Behavior Analysis of Offender and Victim Treatment and Prevention, 1(4), 93 – 118.
Bell, K.M., & Naugle, A.E. (2008). Intimate partner violence theoretical considerations: Moving towards a contextual framework. Clinical Psychology Review, 28, 1096 – 1107.
AFFILIATIONS
Registered Psychologist, Nova Scotia Board of Examiners in Psychology