Social Work Program Director/Associate Professor
Chatham University
Dr. Melissa Bell is an associate professor and social work program director at Chatham University. She holds a Ph.D. in social work from the University of Pittsburgh and a Ph.D. certificate in the study of women, gender, and sexuality from the University of Pittsburgh. She completed a 12-month post-graduate fellowship at Yale University in intensive clinical services. She is a licensed social worker in Pennsylvania with 10 years of post-master’s experience in psychiatric social work. While completing her doctoral coursework, she worked for Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic within the outpatient Eating Disorders Clinic. She also worked in private practice before joining the faculty of Chatham University. Her research focuses on access to family planning, the influence of politics and religion on social work practice, emotion dysregulation in psychiatric treatment, and the transition of military servicewomen to civilian life. She has participated in legislative action that focused on the assurance of access to emergency contraception in Pennsylvania hospital emergency rooms for survivors of sexual assault. She is the primary author of the book Reproductive Decision Making: Acting to Help Clients, from the National Association of Social Workers Press. Her research has appeared in publications such as Social Work in Public Health, Journal of Baccalaureate Social Work, Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research, Journal of Religion and Spirituality in Social Work, and Social Work Education: The International Journal. She has presented at several national conferences and has provided trainings focused on empowering clients through reproductive decision-making.
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