Children’s Program Director
David Lane is the founder of the Counseling Program and Professor of Counseling in Penfield College of Mercer University in Atlanta.
He has over 40 years’ experience as a counselor, counselor educator and supervisor. Dr. Lane is a Licensed Professional Counselor, a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, a Nationally Board-Certified Counselor, a Certified Professional Counselor Supervisor, and a Clinical Member of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapists.
He is in his twenty fourth year at Mercer University, where he was founding faculty member of the counseling program. Prior to coming to Mercer, he was the founder and Coordinator of the Community Counseling and Marriage and Family Counseling Programs at Columbus College (now Columbus State University). While at Columbus he worked with Ft. Benning and the Department of the Army to create a program to train Army Chaplains in Marriage and Family Counseling. The program was highly successful, and the Army sends these Chaplains all over the world to work with soldiers and their families.
After the earthquake in Haiti in 2010, David worked extensively for over a year in Haiti leading teams of professionals to train pastors, teachers, and mental health providers in trauma assessment and care. In the wake of the Newtown, CT, Sandy Hook School shootings in 2012, David led teams to train pastors and community workers to assist with the trauma.
He was a Board member of the Licensed Professional Counselors Association of Georgia for over ten years where he served as the Ethics Chair and worked on the Supervision Credentialing Committee. He was also Editor of the Georgia Journal of Professional Counseling for ten years.
He has published numerous articles, book chapters, and manuscript reviews in the field of Counseling and Marriage and Family Therapy and is co-author of Ready to Learn: Teaching Children How to Succeed in School, a nationally award-winning program for pre-school and early childhood classrooms. In addition, he is author or co-author of seven other books in the field of counseling and trauma.
He is a regular presenter at local, regional, national, and international workshops in the field of Counseling. His research has ranged from trauma, marriage and family issues, and work with children.