Sarah Church-Williams

Q: Can you talk about your current role and how Alliant helped you get there?

A: I went to the Bay Area campus up in San Francisco because I wanted to focus on a forensic family track. I was really focused on child custody and expert testimony and working within the legal realm when it came to helping mitigate the children, families, and DCFS. After I graduated, I worked a little bit in the Bay Area studying narrative therapy and then I eventually moved to Los Angeles. I was doing family therapy up in San Francisco and then when I came to L.A. I started working more with crisis response and the severely and persistently mentally ill. And now I'm doing forensic work with the care court system doing expert testimony and court evaluations, court reports, and interfacing with the legal counsel and department of mental health where they all intersect and work together.

Q: How much did you know ahead of time what you wanted to do?

A: I knew that I wanted to do forensic stuff because I was always interested in the intersection between legal and mental health. Originally though, I was really interested in the juvenile justice population and mandated clients, so my dissertation was on how to build a therapeutic alliance with a kid that's mandated as part of a 602 diversion program into therapy. I was originally interested in working with kids but when I came to L.A. I couldn’t get a job with kids because it was really competitive and so I decided to work with adults, and I fell in love with it because it involved the stuff that we would read about in books. I had the chance to talk to them and hear all about these really big delusions and psychosis and I got fascinated with it and I’ve been working adults ever since. I just switched back into more of the forensic realm but I’m still working with the adult population and now, I don’t think I'd ever work with kids. I love working with adults.

Q: What inspired you to choose Alliant?

A: I got my bachelor of science degree at Colorado State University, and I knew I wanted to be a psychologist. They never talked about PsyD programs at all; it was only PhD programs, like academia, teaching, and research. And the more I heard about it I realized that I didn’t really want to do that. My aunt is a psychologist, and she said, “You know there's a whole other thing called a doctorate of psychology which is focused on clinical psychology.” And so, from there I went down this path looked for all the programs that were available looked for ones that were APA-accredited and that's how I stumbled across Alliant. It was APA-accredited which I knew was important to me and I applied. And then I came and interviewed, and Alliant had a forensics track and it felt like a match.

Q: How did Alliant support you throughout the program?

A: It’s a tough process but I always felt like I had teachers who were there to mentor me and support me. I had a couple faculty that I just latched on to and we started practicum my first year with Head Start and I had a faculty who ended up being a mentor for me the whole time and then she ended up being my dissertation co-chair. I ended up seeking her support and her guidance and she was so caring and accepting. Even when I was making a fool of myself in clinical interviewing, she helped me learn from it instead of making me feel stupid.

Q: Can you tell me about the dissertation process? 

A: Picking a topic wasn't the difficult part. I want to say doing the first part of understanding the literature and coming up with the proposal of what I was going to do to fill a void was the difficult part. But we had a class to help us tease that out and so it ended up not being as scary and difficult. And then you have your chair who helps you figure out the design of what you're going to do and how you're going to structure your study so that was really nice. And then I had my mentor from early on who was my co-chair, and she provided me with encouragement and emotional support, and I was able to bounce ideas off of her and so it ended up working out. I had the one who helped me with the design and then one who was my emotional supporter, and they mirrored each other. You’re not as alone in it as you feel like and it's not as scary and daunting a process as it seems in the beginning.

Q: Was there anything about the program that surprised you?

A: It wasn’t necessarily the program; it was more the experience of how tight everyone was with each other and the camaraderie of going through that process with the people who are also going through it. Going through such an intense process together, I mean those are friends for life. We just follow each other's careers, and we get to hear about how everybody's thriving and doing amazing things, so it's just been nice to grow up with them a little bit.

Q: How has your experience at Alliant impacted you and your career?

A: There were a couple of teachers, for example, my law and ethics teacher was a JD PhD and I feel like he set me up for such success in making sure that I really knew my limitations and how to not get pulled into things that can get me in trouble. I felt really, really valued. He gave me great knowledge and a good foundation to ethics and legal issues which have stayed with me. And then I had another teacher, whose words now that I'm doing expert testimony, I can still hear her voice drilling down some of these things that I learned. There were certain teachers along the way that just stayed with me, and I'll always remember their knowledge and their expertise and how it's set me up to be able to navigate this on my own.

Q: Was there anything Alliant helped with to support you as you made that transition into the workforce

A: They did in that I ended up doing my internship, my postdoc, and then getting hired all at the same place so in that way I was able to start my career with their help. And that worked because I was able to take baby steps with the supervisors. And the support that I had since the internship was very helpful for me to continue on there until I felt that it was a time for me to spread my wings and go. I really appreciated their support with finding an internship that matched with me.

Q: Is there any advice you want to share for people who are considering this field or this clinical psychology program?

A: My first advice would be: when you start it's totally normal to have imposter syndrome and feel like you are not good enough to be there and that you don't belong and the first year is really hard. Realize that you’re stepping into your new role and gaining the confidence because the first year will give you that, so stick with it.

And I think honestly, to build on that, have persistence. There were times when I wanted to give up along the road because things felt very hard, but I wouldn't have what I have now. I love my life now and I love my career. I find satisfaction in it, and I feel like I'm giving back to the community, and I'm compensated well. I’m doing what I love and without the persistence to keep going when it was hard, I wouldn't have this. So, keep your eye on the prize when times get hard.

And lastly make sure that you have a support system throughout the program with your cohort but also find mentors within the program who can help guide you through the program. And don't alienate yourself from your family because it's easy sometimes to get buried in the practicum and the study so make time to keep those relationships going because you'll need the support.