Patricia A. Comella, JD

Patricia Comella’s work with Bowen theory has centered on organizational and societal questions. Her efforts have combined long-term application of Bowen theory and decades-long experience in the use and regulation of advanced technologies for societal benefit, including regulating peaceful uses of atomic energy, as well as in diplomatic negotiations. She has worked for the US Department of Energy, the US Department of State, and the International Atomic Energy Agency, among other entities.

Ms. Comella has served on the organizing committees for many of the Bowen Center’s Spring Conferences: the 1995 Conference on Organizations, the 1998 Conference on The Workplace as a Living System, six conferences on Relationship Systems and Individual Variation in Functioning, and the 2009 Conference, Societies, Families, and Planet Earth.

She has contributed numerous articles to the journal Family Systems, for which she serves as an editorial consultant. She also was the lead editor of The Emotional Side of Organizations, the published proceedings of the 1995 Conference on Organizations. In 2020 she published a chapter, "Extension of Bowen Theory to Include Natural Systems of Human Societies and Their Sustaining Environments," in Handbook of Bowen Family Systems Research Methods: A Systems Model for Family Research.

She serves on the board of The Murray Bowen Archives Project and was its vice-chair, 2008-2016. She serves on the board of Dorchester Citizens for Planned Growth and does pro bono work related to life on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.

Ms. Comella received her undergraduate degree in mathematics from Hofstra University and her law degree from Georgetown University.

Contact information: pacomella@gmail.com