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Denise “Dee” Yookong Williams (they/them)

Ph.D. Candidate
Graduate Research Assistant

Contact

Tate-Turner-Kuralt Building

Suite 400

325 Pittsboro Street

UNC Campus Box 3550

Chapel Hill, NC 27599

dyookong@ad.unc.edu

View CV

Denise “Dee” Yookong Williams (they/them) is a Ph.D. Candidate at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Denise’s clinical experience in treatment foster care, private practice, community-based outpatient mental health clinics, and in the Baltimore City and Baltimore County public school systems fostered their passion for culturally relevant, accessible mental health treatment with a focus on trauma, crisis intervention, suicide prevention, and resiliency, from a social-justice framework. While Denise has worked extensively with individuals and families across the lifespan, their areas of research interest include mental health (e.g., depression, anxiety, and suicidality) and intersectionality, with a focus on BIPOC and LGBTQAI+ adolescent youth, to better understand experiences and disparities to create more evidence-based interventions within the community and school systems. Denise is especially interested in art-based interventions and infusing various modalities to treat individuals and families holistically. Their research assistantship is supervised by Dr. William J. Hall.

Degrees

MSW, University of Maryland
BS, Family and Human Services, Towson University

Licenses and Certifications

LCSW
CFLE

Research and Professional Interests

Adolescent Youth Suicide Prevention and Postvention
LGBTQAI+ Mental Health
BIPOC Mental Health
School-Based Mental Health Interventions

Selected Presentations

Marracini, M., Kane, M., Cruz, C., Bauer, A., Williams, D. Y. , & Sullivan, P. (2023, October). Suicide and community wellbeing. Invited expert panelist to discuss suicide prevention, queer and transgender youth, mental health, and access to lethal means with community organization representatives from the Carolina Across 100 “Our State, Our Wellbeing” forum in partnership with the UNC-CH Suicide Prevention Institute.

Sved, M., Penny, M., Sammon, P., & Williams, D. Y. (2023, October). CURED film screening and panel discussion. Invited expert panelist to discuss LGBTQAI+ historical and present-day concerns related to sexual and gender minority mental health at the 2023 Duke Sexual and Gender Minority Wellness Symposium in Durham, NC.

Williams, D. Y. , Hall, W. J., Srivastava, A., Dawes, H. C., & Baruah, D. (2023, April). Meeting the behavioral health needs of LGBTQIA+ individuals. Social Work Legacy Speakers Series Advancing Equity and Transforming Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Systems Through Social Work Advocacy, Research, and Workforce Development, School of Social Work, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC.

Williams, D. Y. (Spring 2022). Peacebuilder education series: Trauma, resilience, & self-care workshop. Presented to the Duke-UNC Rotary Peace Center Scholars at UNC Global, Chapel Hill, NC.

Williams, D. Y. (2021, November). The survivors of suicide: A story of transformational resilience [Published 3rd place winning essay for the Paul G. Quinnett Lived Experience Writing Competition 2021]. American Association of Suicidology. https://suicidology.org/pgq/