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Lauren Rocha, Ph.D.

email: lrocha2@tnstate.edu

Education:
Ph.D., Counselor Education, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi (CACREP-accredited),
Corpus Christi, TX
Dissertation: Échale Ganas: Initial Development and Validation of a Grit Scale for a Hispanic
Population
2018 – 2021

M.Ed., Educational Psychology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX

2016 - 2018

B.S., Chemistry, the University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost

College, Brownsville, TX
2009 - 2013

Licensure and Certificates:

Certified School Counselor, Texas Education Agency (2018-2022)

Professional Employment:
Assistant Professor, Tennessee State University. (August 2021 – current)
Editorial Assistant, Journal of Professional Counseling Practice Theory & Research. (August
2019 – May 2021)
Program Assistant, Texas Counselors Healthcare Integration Program (Tex-CHIP), Texas
A&M University-Corpus Christi. (August 2019– May 2021)

Graduate Assistant, Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi. (August 2018 – May 2021)

School Counselor Intern, Harlingen Consolidated Independent School District (August 2017 –
May 2018)

Science Teacher, Harlingen Consolidated Independent School District (August 2015 – May
2018)

Teaching Experience:
Assistant Professor, College of Education, Tennessee State University (August 2021 –
Present)
 I facilitated classes at the undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral levels.
PSYC 5530 Psychometrics (Master’s)
PSYC 7137 Advanced Statistic and Research Methods (Doctoral)
PSYC 5040 Statistics and Methodology (Master’s)
PSYC 6405 Internship Elementary (Master’s)
PSYC 3185 Inferential Statistics (Undergraduate)
PSYC 5640 Lifespan Development (Master’s)
PSYC 2125 Introductory Research Methods (Undergraduate)
PSYC 6406 Internship Secondary School Counseling (Master’s)
PSYC 6320 Practicum K-12 School Counseling (Master’s)
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PSYC 6370 Interest, Aptitude, & Achievement Testing (Master’s)

PSYC 6360 Pre-Practicum School Counseling K-12 (Master’s)
PSYC 5090 Counseling & Guidance in Schools (Master’s)
Teaching Assistant, College of Education and Human Development, Texas A&M University-
Corpus Christi (August 2018 – May 2021)
• As a teaching assistant I would assist professors facilitate class by teaching a
topic, grading student material, assigning classwork, updating Blackboard
material, and communicating with students who had any questions.

Master’s Courses
CNEP 5698 Internship – Fall 2020
CNEP 5318 Consultation in Schools – Summer 2020
CNEP 5316 Developmental School Counseling – Summer 2020
CNEP 5304 Introduction to Counseling – Summer 2020
CNEP 5304 Introduction to Counseling – Spring 2020
CNEP 5375 Clinical Mental Health Counseling Strategies - Summer 2019
CNEP 5381 Psychodiagnosis and Treatment – Summer 2019
CNEP 5318 Consultation in Schools - Summer 2019
CNEP 5384 The Counseling Process – Spring 2019
CNEP 5316 Developmental School Counseling - Fall 2018
Doctoral Courses
CNEP 6396 Doctoral Internship – Spring 2021
CNEP 6370 Advanced Quantitative Analysis – Spring 2020
CNEP 6315 Professional, Legal, and Ethical Issues - Fall 2019

Supervision Experience:
Doctoral Level – School Counselor and Clinical Mental Health Counselor Supervisor,
College of Education and Human Development, Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi
(January 2019 - Present)
• I would supervise masters-level students completing their practicum experience hours
for school counseling and clinical mental health. This required meeting with students and
reviewing their case load on a weekly basis.

Publications:
Peer-Reviewed Journals Articles
8. Rocha, L., Rodriguez, S., & Rodriguez. Denise. (2023). Critical incidents. In S. Rodriguez
and N. Mendoza Reis (Eds.), Baila conmigo: Mentoring Latinas as school leaders (pp.).
Lulu.

7. Rocha, L., Gerlach, J., & Croffie, A. (2023). A Phenomenological Study of the Lived
Experiences of Grit Among a Hispanic Population. Journal of Professional Counseling,
50(1), 3-17. https://doi.org/10.1080/15566382.2023.2180609

6. Rocha, L. & Lenz, A. S. (2022). Psychometric Meta-analysis of the Short Grit Scale
Reliability Across Demographic Groups and Academic Settings. Counseling Outcome
Research and Evaluation, 14(2), 122-135.
https://doi.org/10.1080/21501378.2022.2065975.

5. Lenz, A. S., Rocha, L., & Aras, Y. (2021). Measuring school climate: A systematic review
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of initial methodological studies. International Journal for the Advancement of Counselling,

43, 48-62. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10447-020-09415-9

4. Schuster, J., Rocha, L., Sevillano, A., Green-Johnson, F., & Gerlach, J. (2021).
A.D.V.O.C.A.T.E.: A Legislative Advocacy Model for Counseling Students.
Teaching and Supervision in Counseling, 3(1), 89-98.
https://trace.tennessee.edu/tsc/vol3/iss1/9

3. Lenz, A. S., Ho, C., Rocha, L., & Aras, Y. (2020). Reliability generalization of scores on
the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and
Development. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481756.2020.1747940

2. Rocha, L., Lenz, A. S., & Aras, Y. (2019). Measuring School Climate among Spanish-
Speaking Students: A Systematic Review of Primary Methodological Studies.
Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 41(4), 464-480.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0739986319880224

Peer-Reviewed Non-Journal Articles

1. Schuster, J. E. & Rocha, L. (2020). Mindfulness-based programs to increase teacher well-
being in a k-12 setting. TAHEAD Newsletter, 3, 7-9.
Works in Progress:
Gerlach, J. & Rocha, L. Initial development of suicide assessment competency scale for school
counselors.

Rocha, L. & Gerlach, J. Career genogram for First-generation students. Book chapter.

Rocha, L. & Watson, J. Integrating Positive Psychology and Cognitive-Behavioral to Foster

Grit in Hispanic Clients.

Professional Presentations:
21. Watson, J., Ho, J., & Rocha, L. (Oct. 2023). “Creating New Measures: Best Pracitces in
Scale Development.” Content Presentation at the Association for Counselor Education
and Supervision Conference, Denver, CO.

20. Gerlach, J. & Rocha, L. (Sept. 2023). “Initial Development and Validation of a Suicide Risk
Assessment Competency Scale for School Counselors.” Roundtable session at the
Association of Assessment and Research in Counseling Conference, Nashville, TN.

19. Ho, J. & Rocha, L. (Apr. 2023). “BIPOC Counselor Educators’ Personal and Professional
Decolonization Experiences.” Content session at the American Counseling Association
Conference, Toronto, ON, Canada.

18. Dillard, K., Tillery, Y. & Rocha, L. (March 2023). “K-12 School Stakeholders'
Phenomenological Experiences with Trauma-Informed Training.” Poster presentation at
the 45th Annual Tennessee State University-Wide Research Symposium in Nashville, TN.

17. Rocha, L., Pugh, P., & Shankar, P. (March 2023). “A Systematic Review of School
Counselor Content in ACA.” Poster presentation at the 45th Annual Tennessee State
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University-Wide Research Symposium in Nashville, TN.

16. Rocha, L., Webb, T., & Garvin, R. (Nov. 2022). “BIPOC Counselor Educators Supporting
BIPOC Counseling Students.” Content session at the Southern Association for Counselor
Education and Supervision Conference, Baltimore, MD.

15. Ho, C., Rocha, L., & Gerlach, J. (Nov. 2022). “BIPOC Counselor Educators’ Personal and
Professional Decolonization Experiences.” Roundtable session at the Southern
Association for Counselor Education and Supervision Conference, Baltimore, MD.

14. Watson, J., Ho, C., & Rocha, L. (Sept. 2022). “Best Practice Guidelines for Scale
Development.” Content session at the Association of Assessment and Research in
Counseling Conference, St. Louis, MO.

13. Rocha, L. & Watson, J. (Sept. 2022). “Échale Ganas: Initial Development and Validation of
a Grit Scale for a Hispanic Population.” Poster session at the Association of Assessment
and Research in Counseling Conference, St. Louis, MO.

12. Watson, J., Rocha, L., & Ho, J. (Oct. 2021). “A Beginner’s Guide to Scale Development.”
Content Session at the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision; Atlanta,
GA.

11. Rocha, L. & Majors, S. (Sept. 2020). “Échale Ganas: Fostering Grit in Hispanic Counselors
in Training.” Poster session at the Association of Assessment and Research in Counseling
Conference, virtual conference.
10. Schuster, J. & Rocha, L. (July 2020). “Teacher Wellness: A Stepping Stone to Student
Success.” Content session at the Gulf Coast Counseling Association Conference,
via Zoom.
9. Watson, J. & Rocha, L. (February 2020). “Best Practice Guidelines for Instrument
Development.” Content session at the Texas Association for Counselor Education
and Supervision Conference; San Antonio, TX.
8. Schuster, J. E., Rocha, L., Green-Johnson, F. Y., & Sevillano, A. (February 2020). “Let’s
‘ADVOCATE’: An experience at the capitol.” Poster presentation at the Texas
Association for Counselor Education and Supervision Conference; San Antonio, TX.

7. Gerlach, J., Rodriguez, A., Schuster, J., & Rocha, L. (Feb. 2020) “Building Bridges, Not
Barriers: School Counselors and Restorative Justice in Schools.” Content Session at
Texas School Counselor Association Conference, San Antonio, TX.
6. Schuster, J., Rocha, L., & Gerlach, J. (Feb. 2020). “Teacher Wellness: A Stepping Stone
to Student Success.” Content session at the Texas School Counselor Association
Conference, San Antonio, TX.
5. Rocha, L., Lenz, A. S., Aras, Y., & Ho, C. (Sept. 2019). “Psychometric meta-analysis of the
Short Grit Scale.” Poster presentation at the Association of Assessment and Research
in Counseling Conference, San Antonio, TX.
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4. Ho, C., Lenz, A. S., Rocha, L., & Aras, Y. (Sept. 2019). “Reliability of Posttraumatic
Growth Inventory after 20 Years: A Meta-Analysis.” Poster presentation at the
Association of Assessment and Research in Counseling Conference, San Antonio, TX.

3. Aras, Y., Lenz, A. S., & Rocha, L. (Sept. 2019) “Reliability generalization of the Relational
Health Indices.” Poster presentation at the Association of Assessment and Research in
Counseling Conference, San Antonio, TX.

2. Schuster, J. E., Rocha, L., Green-Johnson, F. Y., & Sevillano, A. (April 2019). “Let’s
‘ADVOCATE’: An experience at the capitol.” Poster presentation at the Counselors
at the Capitol Professional Advocacy Mini-Conference; San Antonio, TX.

1. Aras, Y., & Rocha, L. (April 2019). “Working with refugees: Practical and evidence-
based strategies for counselors.” Content session at the Gulf coast Counseling
Association Conference, Corpus Christi, TX.

Grants:
Funded:
Rocha, L. (Principal Investigator). (2023). “School Counselor’s Physiological Stress:
Measuring Salivary Cortisol Samples.” Tennessee State University RSP Seed Grant,
($5,000).

Rocha, L. (Principal Investigator) & Gerlach, J. (2020). “A Phenomenological Study of

the Lived Experiences of Grit Among a Hispanic Population.” Texas Association for
Counselor Education and Supervision (TACES) Research Grant Award, ($500).
Rocha, L. (Principal Investigator) & Watson, J. C. (2020). “Dale Gas: Initial development and
validation of a new grit scale within a Hispanic population.” TAMUCC Research and
Innovation Student Research Competition, ($800).
Not funded:
Rocha, L. (Principal Investigator), Cole, C., Sevillano, A., Jasso, J., & Fuentes-Majors, S.
(2019). “Parallel Language Supervision: The Effects of Spanish-speaking Supervisors on the
Therapeutic Alliance between Supervisees and Clients.” Association for Counselor Education
and Supervision (ACES) Research Grant Award, ($3,000).

Rocha, L. (Principal Investigator). “Dale Gas: Initial development and validation of a new grit
scale within a Hispanic population.” Multicultural Assessment and Research in Counseling
(MARC)
Student Grant of the Association of Assessment and Research in Counseling (AARC), ($500).

Services:
Mental Performance Coach – Tennessee State University Volleyball Team and Softball Team

Department Wellness Task Force – Texas A&M University Corpus Christi, Dept. Of Counseling
and Educational Psychology
Association of Assessment and Research in Counseling (AARC) 2019 Conference Committee
Member
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American Counseling Association (ACA) 2019 Conference Volunteer

TAMUCC Upward Bound Program Presentations

College and Career Exploration 11/3/18
Anxiety Coping Skills in the Classroom
12/8/18 Goal Setting 1/19/19
Healthy Relationships
2/16/19 Digital Citizenship
3/23/19

Professional Advocacy:
Advocacy Day at the Capitol (April 2019)
Support SB 426: School Counselor 80% direct student time requirement
Oppose HB 3172: Allow counselors to deny services based on religious or moral
convictions Austin, Texas

Leadership:
2020-2021 Vice President of Theta Alpha Mu Chapter for Chi Sigma Iota
2020-2021 Emerging Leader of the Texas Association for Humanistic Education
and Development (TAHEAD), a division of the Texas Counseling Association (TCA)
2019-2020 Research Leader of Theta Alpha Mu Chapter for Chi Sigma Iota

Professional Memberships:
Chi Sigma Iota (CSI) - Theta Alpha Mu Chapter
American School Counseling Association (ASCA)
American Counseling Association (ACA)
Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (ACES)
Southern Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (SACES)
Association of Assessment and Research in Counseling (AARC)

Texas Counseling Association (TCA)

Texas Association for Counselor Education and Supervision
(TACES) Texas School Counselor Association (TSCA)
Texas Association for Assessment in Counseling and Education (TAACE)
Texas Association for Humanistic Education and Development (TAHEAD) Gulf Coast
Counseling Association (GCCA)

Awards:
2020 TACES Conference Traveling Award
2020 TACES Conference Best Poster Presentation Award
2020 Outstanding Doctoral Student Award at TAMUCC
2019 Inductee to Chi Sigma Iota (CSI) - Theta Alpha Mu Chapter