Meet Dr Williams, Director of Programs at the Illawarra Women’s Trauma Recovery Centre and RANZCP Fellow.

1) Tell us a little bit about yourself

I think first and foremost, I am an advocate, I see myself as someone who is constantly trying to change systems so that they work better for all women, most importantly our patients. I have spent a number of years advocating successfully for Trauma services for women, and now am the Director of Programs at the Australian-first, government-funded, women’s-only Trauma Recovery Centre. I am proud to be part of a not-for-profit service that is available to all women in the community.

2) What does it mean to you to be a woman in psychiatry?

Female psychiatrists are often specifically sought out by abuse survivors; we are entrusted with life stories in a way that often no one else in the community is. I feel privileged to be in this role, and I never take it for granted. However it gives me a great sense of responsibility, and a strong desire to use this knowledge to contribute to the conversations and planning around reducing the amount of violence we have in our communities. As a woman in psychiatry I feel driven to highlight and address the role we can inadvertently play in harming our patients ourselves, particularly when we pathologies and label survivors of family and sexual violence. 

3) The theme of International Women’s Day 2025 is “March Forward: From Promises to Progress.” In your view, is psychiatry making progress toward this goal?

I would love to say that it is, I still think the steps we make are too small and not enough. We need radical change in the way we do things. We are still not a trauma-informed organisation, and the work we do can be inadvertently harmful. 

However, the conversations are different now, I think it is much easier to talk about gender, specifically gender based violence, and gender equity, in a way you didn’t see even 5 years ago. It is great to see groups and networks forming within the College that recognise the specific biases and hurdles that face women in our community and in the College itself. I would like there to be more conversation about the daily risks that all women face, from intimate partners and family members and how this directly impacts the mental health of women.