Dr. Williams earned her B.A. in Psychology and Linguistics from Stanford University and her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of California, Berkeley. She completed her predoctoral internship and postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Children and Adolescent Services, at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).

Dr. Williams' clinical expertise centers on working with school-age children and families from multilingual, multicultural immigrant communities. She has a particular focus on supporting children and families with ADHD and the "big feelings" that often accompany ADHD. Her work is grounded in Parent Management Training (PMT) and Emotion-Focused Family Therapy (EFFT).

Dr. Williams views each person or child within context — family, school, neighborhood, and community. By strengthening these connections, she and her clients can improve mental health symptoms and well-being. In therapy, she integrates behavioral strategies from parent management training with emotion-focused approaches from family therapy. She believes that bridging language and cultural gaps within families can deepen understanding, strengthen relationships, and promote family well-being.

Dr. Williams directs a clinical research lab at Santa Clara University, where her team focuses on multilingual mental health. Their recent research on Japanese–English bilingual speakers was featured by the Association for Psychological Science.