Sarah Williams named director of PSU Community Counseling Clinic

Portland State University’s College of Education is pleased to announce Sarah Williams as the new director of the PSU Community Counseling Clinic that serves students, as well as the greater Portland community. She will continue to teach in the Counselor Education department, as she has done for the past five years, and will also supervise third-year interns and staff in the clinic.  

“The Counselor Education Department has been incredibly fortunate to have had Sarah as a colleague over the last several years, and we are thrilled that she’s now a full-time member of our department,” says Dr. Rana Yaghmaian, Counselor Education Department Chair. “The Community Counseling Clinic is central to our department’s training model and our ability to contribute to the mission of the university, to let knowledge serve. As we continue to offer low-barrier mental health services to the Portland metro community and unique training opportunities for our students, I am confident that the clinic will thrive under Sarah’s leadership.”

Williams is an experienced clinical supervisor and counselor who specializes in Dialectical Behavior Therapy. She first served in PSU’s Counselor Education department as an adjunct faculty member in 2017 teaching undergraduate and graduate students. While teaching at PSU, she was also previously the director of the Multicultural Training Institute at Lutheran Community Services, Northwest. She is bringing years of practical experience in instruction, counseling, program development and sustainability to her new role as clinic director. 

“I love teaching, and I’m a teacher at heart,” says Williams, who studied elementary education before going on to earn her Master’s in Marriage and Family Therapy from Argosy University in Egan, Minnesota. 

It was in Minneapolis where she began her counseling career at The Bridge for Youth, working with youth in crisis, exploited and experiencing homelessness. After eight months as a 24/7 on-call counselor, she was hired by the organization as a family counselor to earn her hours for licensure, and later became a clinical supervisor. She went on to do community-based, and Clinic work in Duluth before the big move to the West Coast with her husband and two young children.

Portland was calling them. It was the city they chose to call home in order to be near both sides of their family, spread out from Washington to California. And this is where she founded her private practice, which she maintains. 

“My students appreciate that I bring a connection to real world experience,” says Williams. “I also bring an understanding about the counseling profession. Historically, we have thought very highly of our positions as experts, but we need to bring a spirit of humility to the work we are doing. Our clients are the experts of their stories, and need to be treated with respect and humility.”

She is eager to grow the clinic’s outreach efforts, as well as group therapy offerings, providing services to at least 120 clients. All ages, individuals and couples are served by the clinic, and it is not limited to students or people attached to PSU. Her plan for sustainability will not sacrifice affordability. Currently, the clinic charges a $15 fee with a sliding scale for those with need. 

“The purpose of the clinic is to provide people access to counseling with as few barriers as possible,” says Williams, who intends to place emphasis on continuity of care.

In addition to the focus on sustainability, Williams will bring her expertise in program development, such as culturally-specific peer support training. She is also ready to strengthen on-campus partnerships with the Center for Student Health and Counseling (SHAC)and the School of Social Work. 

“We want to make sure everyone knows about us,” she says, “and keep growing the clinic.” 

Counseling has been offered online via telehealth during the COVID pandemic, but will return to in-person sessions in the fall while maintaining telehealth offerings as well. Classes in the Counselor Education department at PSU will also be returning to in-person instruction for the 2022-23 academic year.

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