Dr. Lauren Herbert serves as teaching faculty and Program Director for the Clinical Mental Health Counseling (CMHC) program at AUNE. In both roles, she is committed to supporting the professional development of emerging counselors and fostering a learning environment that is engaging, inclusive, and student-centered. In addition, she is a licensed clinical professional counselor and supervisor, currently working in private practice, with experience in hospitals, schools, and community health. As an educator and clinician, she is able to bring current clinical experience directly into the classroom and provide students with real-world perspectives as a professional counselor in practice.
Dr. Herbert's clinical work and scholarship focuses on sexuality, relational dynamics/therapy, kinky and alt-sex communities, diverse relational structures, life transitions, neurodivergence, parenting strain and fertility, especially within the queer community. Additionally, she serves in leadership and advocacy roles focused on social justice efforts within the university, counseling profession, and larger communities. Dr. Herbert is deeply committed to her efforts to provide inclusive, sex-positive, liberatory, and affirming care that values all lived experiences.
- EdD, Counselor Education and Supervision, Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania
- MS, Clinical Mental Health Counseling, Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania
- BA, Psychology, Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania
My teaching philosophy is grounded in an interpretivist epistemology, recognizing that knowledge is shaped through lived experience, relationships, culture, and the meanings individuals make of their experiences. I believe my role as a faculty member is therefore not only to facilitate learning, but to model and create a classroom environment where students are challenged to think critically, engage from a curious stance, and supported in becoming counselors who practice with humility, intentionality, and compassion.
I approach teaching from a student-centered and humanistic lens, recognizing that each of us brings a uniqueness that enriches our collective, co-created, and constructed learning. Meaningful counselor development often requires students to encounter perspectives that challenge their assumptions, examine their positionality, and tolerate the productive discomfort that accompanies growth. My responsibility is to create the conditions for that learning while maintaining structure, transparency, and care.
My teaching is explicitly informed by social justice and advocacy principles. Counseling as a profession is situated within broader social, cultural, historical, and structural contexts. Equity-centered education interrogates commonly held beliefs and assumption while valuing and honoring individuality. Through self-reflection, collaboration, dialogue, and culturally responsive practice, I invite students to approach conversations through cultural humility rather than cultural mastery.
I view feedback as a central component within the learning experience and value experiential learning. As an educator, I seek to prioritize opportunities for students to practice, make mistakes, receive specific and strength-based feedback, reflect, and try again. I also invite students to provide feedback about my teaching because I believe educators, like counselors, must remain reflective practitioners. Overall, my goal as a counselor educator is to prepare ethical, thoughtful, and self-efficacious future counselors by bridging the gap between theory and clinical practice.
- L. Herbert. (April, 2023). Kink 101. Alvernia Counseling Workshop. Reading, PA
- L. Herbert. (July, 2022). LGBTQ Youth. Baltimore County Police Department Training. Dundalk, MD
- L. Herbert & C. Herbert. (November, 2021). Let’s talk about sex and relationships in recovery. Millersville University Global Well-Being and Social Change Conference, Millersville, PA
- L. Herbert & C. Herbert. (April, 2020). Let’s talk about sex and relationships in recovery. Millersville University Global Well-Being and Social Change Conference, Millersville, PA
- L. Herbert, J. Kraus, T. Byers, & K. Capone. (April, 2020). Connecting Cohorts: A Peer Mentorship Model in Education. Chi Sigma Iota Pennsylvania Statewide Conference. Shippensburg, PA
- L. Herbert & C. Herbert. (April, 2019). Let’s talk about sex and relationships in recovery. Pennsylvania Certification Board Conference, Lancaster, PA
- Byers, T., Herbert, L., Kraus, J., & Zentmeyer, S. (September, 2018). Sticks, stones, and clay pots: Preparing new counselors for transdisciplinary collaboration. Roundtable presentation at NARACES, Burlington, VT
- Byers, T., Capik, D., Herbert, L., Hughes, E., Kraus, J., & Zentmeyer, S. (September, 2018). Maiden’s voyage: Navigating unknown doctoral waters. Roundtable presentation at NARACES, Burlington, VT
- L. Herbert. (September, 2018). Transitional Care in Pediatrics. School of Medicine, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD
- L. Herbert. (June, 2018). Intersection of LGBTQ & HIV in Pediatrics. School of Nursing, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD
- L. Herbert. (May, 2018). Transition 101. Sickle Cell Advocacy Day, Annapolis, Maryland
- L. Herbert. (June, 2014). LGBT 101 for Mental Health Workers. Keystone Human Services, Lancaster, PA
- Panelist. (December 2014). World Aids Day. Lancaster, PA
- Panelist. (November 2014). Transgender Day of Remembrance. Lancaster, PA
- American Counseling Association (ACA)
- American Counselor Educators and Supervisors (ACES)
- Association of Counseling Sexology & Sexual Wellness (ACSSW)
- American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists (AASECT)
- Maryland Counseling Association (MCA)
- Maryland Counselors for Social Justice (MCSJ)