Cyrus Williams, Ph.D.

Bio

Dr. Cyrus Williams is a professor in the School of Psychology & Counseling. He received a B.S. in Finance from Eastern Connecticut State University, a master’s in counseling from the University of Hartford, and a Ph.D. in Counselor Education & Supervision, and a Specialist in Higher Education Administration from the University of Florida. Additionally, he is a licensed mental health counselor in Florida and Virginia, and a nationally certified counselor.

Prior to his work at Regent University, Williams worked for more than 15 years in various administrative positions in higher education. He has many years of experience working with adults in community counseling agencies as a forensics and substance abuse counselor. He is a Gottman-trained couples’ therapist, and provides clinical supervision to helping professionals in the community. He has also completed intensive sex addictions therapy training offered by ITAP. Some of Williams’ past clinical counseling positions include serving as a community counselor and serving as a counselor for the Non-Violence Alliance, where he has worked with men and women involved in domestic abuse. He also worked as an addictions counselor for CDS Family & Behavioral Services, Inc., and was the lead counselor for the forensic diversion team at Meridian Behavioral Healthcare, Inc. In each of these positions, Williams worked with teams consisting of criminal justice and judicial and social sciences agencies to provide substance abuse and mental health treatment. He is also owner of Impact Counseling, Coaching & Consulting, LLC.

Williams’ research interests centers on the intersection of ethnicity, social economic status, and education and other institutions. He prefers to focus on applying non-cognitive variables such as hope, resilience and strength-based interventions to increase access, persistence, retention rates and the overall college experience for first-generation college students and at-risk individuals and families. Additional research interests include multicultural and advocacy counseling and multicultural competencies and supervision as well as substance abuse counseling.

Credentials

Ph.D. Counselor Education, University of Florida EdS. Higher Education, University of Florida M.S. Counseling, University of Hartford B.S. Business Administration, Eastern Connecticut State University Licensure/Certification: Licensed Mental Health Counselor (FL), National Certified Counselor

Publications

Hoard, P., Underwood, L.A., Dailey, F.L., Williams, C., and Etienne, R. (2017). Preliminary results of social climate's impact on treatment progress of juveniles with sexual behavior problems. Accepted in Journal of Behavior.

Merino, C., Underwood, L.A., Dailey, F.L., Williams, C., Crump, Y. & Washington, A. (2017). Attachment, etiological factors and levels of care in juveniles with sexual behavior problems. Accepted to the Journal of Psychology and Behavior Health Science.

Karakosta, O., Underwood, L.A., Williams, C., Todd, S., Dailey, F.L., Merino, C., Fairchild, B., Williams, E., Crump, Y., & Wood, S. (2016). Reducing cognitive distortions in a sample of juveniles with sexual behavior problems World Journal of Behavioral Science, 2, 1-11.

Williams, C., Nelson, M., Hermann, K. (2016, April). Validating the quarter-life crisis. Counseling Today. Retrieved from https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/10/

Garrett, M. T., Curtis, R., Parrish, M., Portman, T. A. A., Grayshield, L., Williams, C. R., & Reese, R. (2016). Positive psychology practice with Native Americans. In E. Chang, C. Downey, J. Hirsch, & N. Lin (Eds.), Positive psychology in racial and ethnic minority groups: Theory, research, assessment, and practice (pp. 281-304). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Gerhard-Burnham, B., Underwood, L.A., Speck, K., Williams, C., Crump, Y & Merino, C. (2016). The lived experience of the adolescent sex offender: A phenomenological case study. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse. 25(1),1-17. doi: 10.1080/10538712.2016.1111965

Karakosta, O., Underwood, L.A., Williams, C., Todd, S., Dailey, F.L., Merino, C., Wood, S. (2016). The impact of an integrated sex offender treatment program in reducing cognitive distortions. World Journal of Behavioral Science. 2, 1-11. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.20941/2414-214X.2016.02.1

Dailey, L.L., Underwood, L.A., Crump, Y., Williams, C., Newmeyer, M., Poole, L, and Washburn, D., (2016). Treatment effectiveness of the Louisiana sexual behavior problems treatment program. International Journal of Psychology & Psychoanalyses, 2(2), 1-8. Retrieved from https://www.clinmedjournals.org/articles/ijpp/international-journal-of-psychology-and-psychoanalysis-ijpp-2-014.pdf

Williams C., Garrett, M., & Brown, E. (2015). First generation African American college students. In J. Curry & M. A. Shillingford (Eds). African American students' career and college readiness: The journey unraveled (pp. 187-206). Lanham, MD: Lexington Publishers.

Garrett, M. T., Williams, C., Curtis, R., Brown, T., Portman, T. A. A., & Grayshield, L., Parrish, M., (2015). Native American spiritualties and pastoral counseling. In E. Maynard, & J. Snodgrass (Eds.), Understanding pastoral counseling (pp. 303-326). New York: Springer.

Grande, T. L., Newmeyer, M. D., Underwood, L. A., & Williams, C. R. (2014). Path analysis of the SCL-90-R: Exploring use in outpatient assessment. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, 47(4), 271-290. doi:10.1177/0748175614538061

Windham, M., Rehfuss, M., Williams, C., Pugh, J., Tincher-Ladner, L. (2014). Retention of first-year community college students. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 38(5), 466-477. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10668926.2012.743867

Williams, C., Marks Reid, L., Bannis, B. (2014). Nurturing hope and resilience: Connecting with at-risk middle school students using rap therapy. In M. Garrett (Ed.). Adversity: Psychology, influences of childhood & adolescence and coping strategies.

Butler, K., Evans, M., Brooks, M., Williams, C., Bailey, D. (2013). Mentoring African American men during their postsecondary and graduate school experiences: Implications for the counseling profession. Journal of Counseling and Development, 91(4), 419-427. doi: 10.1002/j.1556-6676.2013.00113.x

Garrett, M. T., Garrett, J. T., Grayshield, L., Williams, C. R., Portman, T., Torres Rivera, E., Kawulich, B. (2013). Culturally-alert counseling with Native Americans. In G. McAuliffe (Ed.), Culturally-alert counseling: A comprehensive introduction (2nd ed.) (pp 185-222). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Garrett, M. T., Parrish, M., Williams, C., Grayshield, L., Portman, T. A. A., Torres Rivera, E., & Maynard, E. (2014). Invited commentary: Fostering resilience among Native American youth through therapeutic intervention. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 43(3), 470-490. doi:10.1007/s10964-013-0020-8

Garrett, M. T., Portman, T. A. A., Williams, C. R., Grayshield, L., Torres Rivera, E., & Parrish, M. (2013). Counseling Native American adults: Where power moves. In E. Chang, & C. Downey (Eds.), Mental health practice in a multicultural society. New York: Routledge.

Garrett, M. T., & Williams, C. R. (2013). A life-changing experience: Developmental counseling critical incident. In M. Fawcett, & K. Evans (Eds.), Workbook for developing multicultural counseling competencies. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Williams, C. R. (2013). Activity 13 (low risk): "Sizeism is a real word". In M. Fawcett, & K. Evans (Eds.), Experiential approach for developing multicultural counseling competence (170-174). Los Angeles, CA: Sage.

Garrett, M. T., & Williams, C. R. (2013). Sizeism is a real word II. In M. Fawcett, & K. Evans (Eds.), Workbook for developing multicultural counseling competencies. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Garrett, M. T., Portman, T. A. A., Williams, C. R., Grayshield, L., Torres Rivera, E., & Parrish, M. (2012). Native American adult lifespan perspectives: Where power moves. In E. Chang, & C. Downey (Eds.), Mental health across racial groups: Lifespan perspectives (pp. 107-126). New York: Springer.

Garrett, M., Williams C. (2012). Social justice counseling/advocacy work by the macro-level multicultural counselor. In M. Fawcett & K. Evans (Eds.) Workbook for developing multicultural counseling competencies. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Tate, K. A., Williams, C., & Harden, D. (2013). Finding purpose in pain: Using logotherapy as a method for addressing survivor guilt in first-generation college students. Journal of College Counseling, 16(1), 79-92. doi:10.1002/j.2161-1882.2013.00028.x

Williams, C. R., & Garrett, M. T. (2013). Alternate activity 13: "Social justice work by the macro-level multicultural counselor". In M. Fawcett, & K. Evans (Eds.), Experiential approach for developing multicultural counseling competence (171-174). Los Angeles, CA: Sage.

Williams C., Garrett, M. (2013). Alternative activity 3: Social justice counseling/advocacy work by the macro-level/multicultural counselor—"The Frank Parsons project". In M. Fawcett, & K. Evans (Eds.), Experiential approach for developing multicultural counseling competence (90-93). Los Angeles, CA: Sage.

Garrett, M. T., Brubaker, M. D., Torres Rivera, E., Gregory, D. E., & Williams, C. R. (2011). Ayeli: A Native American-based group centering technique for college students. In T. Fitch, & J. Marshall (Eds.), Group and outreach activity guide for college counselors: Group plans and resources. (pp. 261-266). Alexandria, VA: American Counseling Association

Williams, C., & Butler, S.K. (2010). A new retention variable: Hope and first generation college students. In G. R. Waltz, J.C. Bleuer, and R. Yep (Eds.), VISTAS: Ideas and research you can use. (pp. 73-76). Alexander, VA: American Counseling Association.

Williams, C. R. (2004). A balancing act: respecting student's cultural differences and student conduct. In L. Flowers (Ed.), Diversity issues in American colleges and universities: Case studies for higher education and student affairs professionals (pp. 93-94). Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas Publishers.

Garrett, M. T., Garrett, J. T., Grayshield, L., Portman, T. A. A., Torres Rivera, E., Williams, C. R.,Kawulich, B. (2013). Counseling Native Americans. In D. Hays,& B. Erford (Eds.), Developing multicultural counseling competency: A systems approach (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Affiliations

Southern Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (SACES)
National Career Development Association (NCDA)
Virginia Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (VACES)
American Counseling Association (ACA)
Association of Multicultural Counseling and Development (AMCD)
Counselors for Social Justice (CSJ)
American College Counselors Association (ACCA)
Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (ACES)

MEMBERSHIPS

Institutional Review Board

Awards

Williams, C. (2011). Principle Investigator and Project Director, “Strengthening Families”.
Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth amount $108,000 (not funded).
Williams, C. (2010). Principle Investigator, “A Transformational Experience: Homeless not Helpless,
Social Justice and Homelessness. Regent University faculty research grant, amount $1,600 (Funded for $800).
Williams, C. (2010). Principle Investigator, “A Transformational Experience: Homeless not Helpless,
Social Justice and Homelessness. Southern Association for Supervision in Counseling. SACES research grant, amount $500 (not funded).