Belle Bocal, LCSW
WellSpace Clinician
“Sau cơn mưa trời lại sáng.”
After the rain, the sky clears.
Belle is a Vietnamese American clinician, first-generation scholar, and community builder, born and raised here in Maine. Her work is shaped by her immigrant family, the quiet stories and sacrifices that raised her, and a deep belief in the healing power of relationship.
Belle works with individuals and couples who find themselves in the in-between—grieving what has been lost, questioning who they are becoming, and carrying stories shaped by migration, culture, attachment, and intergenerational histories. She supports clients navigating anxiety, emotion regulation, family conflict, grief, racial and cultural identity, self-esteem, and relationship concerns.
Her practice is relational, culturally responsive, and trauma-informed. She works collaboratively from a person-centered lens, drawing from attachment-based frameworks, parts-informed approaches, mindfulness, and body-aware practices. She has completed Brainspotting Phase 1 and 2 training and Level 1 and 2 Training in Gottman Method Couples Therapy. With couples, she helps partners recognize patterns of conflict and disconnection, communicate with greater intention, and create opportunities for repair.
Belle is especially called to work with AAPI and diaspora communities in Maine and beyond, with particular attention to culture, family, identity, and belonging. As a Mainer, she understands the complexities of building community and navigating identities that can feel both deeply familiar and complicated.
Her ongoing doctoral work in Human Development continues to inform her curiosity about how we develop, connect, and make meaning of our experiences. She believes healing is both individual and collective—an ongoing process of learning, unlearning, and becoming. Belle’s hope is to create spaces where stories and struggles are held with care, cultural nuance is honored, and new meanings can gently emerge.
Education:
Bachelor of Arts, University of Southern Maine
Master of Science, Boston University
Master of Social Work, University of New England
PhD in Human Development, Lesley University — currently pursuing
Clinical Training:
Internships: Gateway Community Services; Maine Medical Center – Palliative Medicine Program
Fellowship: Lesley Institute for Trauma Sensitivity (LIfTS)