Dr. Sarah Williams in the Media
Expert commentary on mental health, burnout, emotional wellbeing, and the psychological experiences of high-achieving professionals, Black women, and faith leaders.
I am a licensed psychotherapist, board-certified clinician, and sought-after expert on mental health topics that often go underreported: the emotional cost of high achievement, burnout among professionals and faith leaders, grief that does not come with public recognition, and the psychological experiences of Black women navigating demanding lives.
I offer thoughtful, clinically grounded perspective — the kind that translates complex psychological realities into language that is clear, culturally informed, and accessible to general audiences without oversimplifying the subject. I am available for media interviews, podcast appearances, panel discussions, and expert commentary.
What I Shared with Medium About Why Religion Attracts Narcissists
In January 2026, I was one of three therapists interviewed for a Medium piece exploring why religious environments can attract narcissistic personalities and what that means for the people harmed inside those communities. This is a topic I take seriously in my clinical work and one that does not get nearly enough direct, honest attention.
What I Shared on WTKR News About AI, Seasonal Depression, and Why Human Connection Still Matters
Last winter, WTKR News 3 reached out to me again to speak about a trend I had been watching with concern: the growing reliance on AI chatbots and wellness apps for mental health support, specifically during the winter months when seasonal depression is most prevalent. The appeal is understandable — AI is available at 2 a.m., it doesn't judge, and it responds personally. But what I see clinically tells a different story about what that habit actually costs. The more you rely on it, the more you reinforce the very isolation that feeds the depression.
What I Shared on WTKR News About Seasonal Affective Disorder — & Why Women Are Especially at Risk
In the fall of 2022, I spoke with WTKR News 3 about Seasonal Affective Disorder — what it actually is, why it affects certain people more than others, and what helps when you are in the middle of it. What I find in my practice is that a lot of people dismiss what they are experiencing as ordinary tiredness or just the weather. The distinction matters, because SAD is a recognized mood disorder that responds well to specific interventions — and ignoring it tends to make it worse.
What I Shared with MadameNoire About Why We Are Drawn to Toxic Partners
In 2021, MadameNoire reached out to me to help explain one of the most common questions I hear in my work — why do we keep ending up in relationships with people who are not good for us? The answer is almost never about the other person. It is almost always about something unresolved within ourselves that we have not yet had the space to look at honestly.
What I Wrote for The Mighty About Grief, Trauma, and Losing My Husband
In 2020, I wrote a personal essay for The Mighty about something I rarely talk about publicly — the experience of watching my husband die, navigating complicated grief with two adolescent children, and what it taught me about loss that no clinical training could. The piece is called "Plastic Smiling," and that phrase says everything about what grief often looks like from the outside when you are a professional who is expected to hold it together.
Burnout Among High-Achieving Professionals
Why high performers are uniquely vulnerable to burnout, how it manifests differently in leaders and caregivers, and what recovery actually requires — beyond the self-care conversation.
The Hidden Emotional Labor of Black Women Professionals
The psychological cost of navigating professional environments while managing cultural expectations, racial stress, and the pressure to perform composure. Why this population is underserved in mental health conversations and what that costs them.
Grief That Doesn't Come With Condolences
Grief beyond bereavement — the losses that don't have public recognition but carry significant emotional weight: identity shifts, career disappointments, faith transitions, and the quiet erosion of self that comes from years of over-functioning.
Mental Health in Faith Communities and Among Clergy
The particular burden of spiritual leadership — compassion fatigue, moral injury, and the stigma of seeking help when you are the person others come to for it.
The Psychology of Chronic Responsibility
What happens emotionally and psychologically to people who have spent years being the reliable one — in families, organizations, and communities — and why strength can become a trap.
AI, Technology, and Emotional Wellbeing
How technology use intersects with mental health — including the ways AI-driven tools are being used (and misused) in emotional support contexts, and what the research says about digital habits and mood.
Trauma, Identity, and the High-Functioning Survivor
How trauma continues to shape emotional responses, relationships, and self-perception in people who appear — and often believe themselves to be — fine.
Topics I Speak On
I am available for media interviews, podcast appearances, panel discussions, keynotes, and expert commentary on the following topics.