Sarah Stillwell

Dr. Sarah Stillwell joined the counseling department at Loyola in the fall of 2023 and is currently an Assistant Professor in the department. They received their M.S. degree in Counseling from Southern Methodist University with a specialization in Affirmative Therapy and their Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision from the Texas A&M University- Commerce. They are a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in the state of Texas and a National Certified Counselor (NCC). Dr. Stillwell currently serves as the Senator of the Texas division of the Society for Sexual, Affectional, Intersex, and Gender Expansive Identities (TxSAIGE), and is a former board member for the Texas division of Counselors for Social Justice where they served on the board in various positions for six years. They are also one of the faculty advisers of the Alpha Phi chapter of Chi Sigma Iota here in the department.

Dr. Stillwell has a specialization in Affirmative therapy for sexual orientation and gender identity minorities (SOGI) and is also a gender-affirming mental health provider. They also specialize in counseling for Ethical Non-Monogamous (ENM) individuals and relationships, as well as being kink-aware. They regularly present at conferences on topics such as writing letters for medical and legal transitions for gender-affirming care and queer sex therapy. They also host workshops on Affirmative Therapy and Gender-Affirming Mental Health Care. Dr. Stillwell has received multiple awards centered around their social justice and advocacy work including the Texas Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (TACES) Advocacy Award and the Molly Gerold Human Rights Award. Recently, they were awarded the Solmonson Social Justice Leadership Award for outstanding leadership in a social justice capacity. Dr. Stillwell additionally was awarded an advocacy grant in Spring 2023 that supported taking counselors to the state capital to enact advocacy work for the profession. Dr. Stillwell has experience as a professional counselor and work in a private practice setting primarily serving SOGI individuals or members of the ENM and Kink communities. Dr. Stillwell’s research interest are in affirmative healthcare, counselor advocacy, relationship therapy for ethically non-monogamous relationships, and utilization of kink-awareness in counseling.