Dr. Bessa is passionate about providing excellent clinical and consultative services. She has developed relevant areas of expertise over more than a decade, including the utilization of mindfulness based approaches, an attitude of cultural humility, and trauma informed practice, and consistently engages with new developments in the field and with the psychological community as a whole.

Before founding Bela Luz Health, Dr. Bessa worked as a staff clinician and as the Diversity and Inclusion Coordinator at a large group practice, where she helped develop and implement practice-wide policies. She has a particular interest in issues related to identity, power and privilege, and diversity and inclusion. Dr. Bessa has taught Psychology at the undergraduate and graduate levels, and has served as a member of multiple professional associations and committees.

Dr. Bessa is an out-of-network provider with most insurance plans.

• APA-accredited Postdoctoral Residency at The Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial Veterans Hospital

• PhD in Counseling Psychology from The University of Texas at Austin

• Pre-doctoral Internship at Maimonides Medical Center

• MA in Program Evaluation from the University of Texas at Austin

• BA in Psychology from Williams College