Lara Strate
Assistant Professor - Counselor Education
Psychological Science and Counseling
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Contact
- stratel@apsu.edu
- 931-221-7211
- Health Professions Building Room HPB 207C
“I look forward to walking alongside APSU students as they develop into confident, reflective counselors, and to bringing a person-centered approach into how I mentor and support them along the way.”What do you look forward to in your interactions with APSU students?
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B.Sc., Psychology, Saarland University
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M.A., Clinical Mental Health Counseling, Tennessee Tech University
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Ph.D., Counseling & Supervision, Tennessee Tech University
Dr. Lara Strate is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychological Science and Counseling at Austin Peay State University, where she teaches in the Clinical Mental Health Counseling program and serves as Coordinator for the Clinical Mental Health Concentration.
Dr. Strate is a Associate Licensed Professional Counselor (A-LPC-MHSP) and a National Certified Counselor (NCC), practicing since 2022 with a clinical approach grounded in Person-Centered Therapy. She is actively involved in professional and service organizations dedicated to advancing the counseling profession. Dr. Strate is President-Elect of the Tennessee Mental Health Counselors Association (TMHCA) and was selected as a 2026–2027 AARC (Association for Research and Assessment in Counseling) Emerging Leader, a service commitment involving mentorship, committee participation, and journal work with the CORE journal. She serves on the International Committee for AARC, as well as an ad hoc reviewer for the Journal of Counselor Leadership and Advocacy.
Dr. Strate earned her doctorate in counseling with a dissertation comparing the psychometric properties of three alexithymia instruments, the TAS-20, the PAQ, and the BVAQ, using a college student sample. Her undergraduate training took place in Germany (her home country), an experience that continues to inform her professional identity and research interests.
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Alexithymia
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Psychometric Evaluation
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Intercountry Counseling & Research Practices
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Wellness
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Strate, L. (2025). Assessing Alexithymia in College Students: Exploring the Psychometric Properties of the TAS-20, PAQ, and BVAQ (Publication No. 31938608) [Doctoral dissertation, Tennessee Technological University]. ProQuest Dissertation & Theses.
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Wiley, J. D., Reynolds, J., Strate, L., Porter, A., Seymour, P., Beach, R., & Patel, R. (2024). Medicare inclusion of licensed mental health counselors and marriage and family therapists. Journal of Rural Mental Health, 48(2), 143-144.
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Strate, L., Michael, T., & Hammond, M. (2023). Vocational identity in college students: Path analysis of childhood attachment, gender, age, and socioeconomic status. COUNS-EDU: The International Journal of Counseling and Education, 8(1), 45-53.