by Chris Hilburn-Trenkle
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Social Work made history when it established its doctoral program in the fall of 1993, becoming the first doctoral social work program in the state. Since that time, the program’s impact has grown immeasurably to position itself and its students at the forefront of cutting-edge research.
To celebrate our students, we are spotlighting each of our doctoral students set to graduate in 2025, highlighting their areas of research, providing a link to their resume and more.
Denise Yookong Williams
Research Interests: Intersectional youth and young adult suicide prevention/postvention; sexual and gender expansive mental health; racially diverse people of color mental health; art-based research and interventions.
Denise Yookong Williams, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Social Work, specializes in suicide prevention/postvention for youth and young adults, with a focus on sexual and gender diverse people of color. Undergirded by over a decade of experience in community organizing, clinical practice, and research, Denise’s dissertation explores their novel Transformational Visual Intervention for Exposure With Suicide (Transformational-VIEWS), a psychosocial arts-based intervention co-created within the community and aiming to support queer young adults of color coping with suicide loss. This initial pilot feasibility study will evaluate Transformational-VIEWS through mixed-methods.
While teaching graduate courses on systemic oppression and resistance, Denise emphasizes critical dialogue and pedagogy to engage students in personal reflexivity as they analyze institutional oppression and complicity. Denise also educates on trauma, mental health, and suicide prevention for queer, racially/ethnically diverse populations, advocating through community workshops, panels, podcasts, and both academic and general audience publications. Denise advances equity and enhances well-being through community-engaged research, amplifying voices and strengths of individuals historically ignored in suicide prevention work.
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