Sarah Fatemeh Porter

Sarah Porter (she/her) is a critical suicidologist, clinical social worker and PhD candidate whose research and practice focus on expanding access to voluntary, community-based behavioral crisis services. In collaboration with peer support community partners, she uses community-engaged methods to conduct translational research that centers the diverse lived experiences of people with psychiatric disabilities, mental illness, Madness and neurodivergence. Her research and practice aim to strengthen community-led peer support models that uphold autonomy and whole-health wellbeing, particularly for those disproportionately harmed by behavioral crisis systems or excluded from the development of services.

Her dissertation examines the growing implementation of peer support specialists in behavioral crisis settings by exploring peer-led workforce development priorities across policy and practice contexts. Sarah’s research is grounded in critical theoretical frameworks from Mad Studies and informed by her social work practice experience in street medicine and inpatient pediatric psychiatry. She holds an MSW in clinical social work from the University of Washington and an MHS in mental health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.