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.

Contact
Tate-Turner-Kuralt Building
Suite 400
325 Pittsboro Street
UNC Campus Box 3550
Chapel Hill, NC 27599
Degrees
MSW, University of MarylandBS, Family and Human Services, Towson University
Licenses and Certifications
LCSWCFLE
Research and Professional Interests
Adolescent Youth Suicide Prevention and PostventionLGBTQAI+ 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/