Dr. William David Lane

Professor of Counseling
Department of Counseling

Education

  • B.S.Ed., Troy State University, 1976
  • M.Ed., Georgia State University, 1981
  • Ph.D., Georgia State University, 1992

W. David Lane is a professor in the Department of Counseling in the College of Professional Advancement at Mercer University, and is the founding faculty member of the Counseling Program. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Education degree from Troy University in 1976, a Master of Education degree in Counseling from Georgia State University in 1981, and a Ph.D. in Counseling from Georgia State University in 1992 and has over 48 years’ experience as a counselor, counselor educator, and supervisor.

David 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 30th year at Mercer University. 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, which is still in operation, has been highly successful, and the Army sends these Chaplains all over the world to work with soldiers and their families.

After the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, David worked extensively in the country for over a year 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 trauma recovery. Beginning in 2022, David worked with the Stetson School of Business to create a program through Mercer On Mission to do trauma work in Rwanda. 2025 will be the fourth year of this very successful collaboration with Business and Counseling faculty taking teams of counseling students and business students to Rwanda to work on programs for trauma recovery, business development, and entrepreneurship. So far 36 counseling students have participated in the life- changing work.

He served for twelve years as a member of the Board of Directors of the Licensed Professional Counselors Association of Georgia, was ethics chair for six years, editor of the Georgia Journal of Professional Counseling for ten years, and worked with LPCA-GA to create the Certified Professional Counselor Supervisor (CPCS) credential. In 2021, the Governor appointed him to the Composite Board (the licensing board) for Counselors, Social Workers, and Marriage and Family Therapists. He currently serves as Vice-Chair of the Composite Board.

David has published numerous articles, book chapters, and manuscript reviews in the field of Counseling and Marriage and Family Therapy and is the 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 2015, based on his work in Haiti, he co-authored Trauma Narrative Treatment with his wife, Dr. Donna Lane, former adjunct professor of counseling at Mercer University. Trauma Narrative Treatment is a narrative group treatment approach for treating trauma which has been translated into five languages. It is currently in use in 14 countries around the world. His most recent book, published in 2020, and co-authored with Keith Myers, a Mercer Counseling Ph.D. graduate, is titled Counseling Veterans: A Practical Guide. David is also a children’s author with ten children’s books to his credit so far. His children’s books, often about counseling topics, have won over 40 awards in national and international book award competitions. In 2018 he was named the recipient of the John Burns Lifetime Achievement Award by the Licensed Professional Counselors Association of Georgia for his contributions and achievements in the field of counseling, education, and mentorship, and the Linda Painter Service Award for his service to the profession of counseling. He is a regular presenter at local, regional, national, and international workshops in the field of Counseling.

David has been married to Dr. Donna Lane for over 45 years, and they have three wonderful, successful children (he says this is his best credential).

Licensure

  • Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), Georgia
  • Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Georgia

Courses taught

Dr. Lane has taught every course in the master’s counseling curriculum except for career/vocational counseling and cultural perspectives in counseling. He has also taught six courses in the Ph.D. curriculum and numerous undergraduate courses in Human Services and Criminology at Mercer while developing the counseling program.

Areas of specialization

  • Trauma Counseling
  • Veterans Issues
  • Child and Adolescent Counseling
  • Marriage and Family Counseling
  • Counselor Supervision

Leadership positions in the profession or discipline

  • Vice-Chair, Composite Board for Counselors, Social Workers, and Marriage and Family Therapists
  • Board of Directors, Licensed Professional Counselor Association of Georgia (LPCA-GA)
  • Ethics Chair, LPCA-GA
  • Credentialing Chair, LPCA-GA
  • Editor, Georgia Journal of Professional Counseling, LPCA-GA

Research and professional interests

Trauma and veterans issues

Research with students or opportunities

Dr. Lane has published multiple papers with students, conducted numerous professional presentations with students, and led counseling trips abroad with groups of students.

Recent publications

Books

  • Myers, Keith J. and Lane, W. David (2020) Counseling Military Veterans, Cognella Academic    Publishing, Santa Barbara, CA
  • Lane, Donna E. and Lane, W. David (2018). Strength in adversity. Bear’s Place Publishing, Atlanta, GA.
  • Lane, Donna E., Lane, W. David, Connell, Karen, and Kireta, Brooke (2017) Strength in Our Story: A Study of the Story of Joseph, Facilitator’s Manual, Bear’s Place Publishing, Lilburn, GA.
  • Lane, Donna E., Lane, W. David, Connell, Karen, and Kireta, Brooke (2017) Strength in Our Story: A Study of the Story of Joseph, Participant’s Manual, Bear’s Place Publishing, Lilburn, GA.
  • Lane, W. David and Lane, Donna E., (2015) Trauma Narrative Treatment:  A Trauma Recovery Model for Groups, Bear’s Place Publishing, Lilburn, GA.
  • Lane, W. David and Lane, Donna E., (2014) Gold Stone: Phoenix Beginnings, Regenerations Writers Press, Macon, GA.
    • Lane, Donna E. and Lane, W. David, (2010) Please Share the Door, I’m Freezing! Creating Oneness in Marriage, Catawba Publishing, Charlotte, NC.
    • Brigman, Greg, Lane W. David, and Lane, Donna E., (1994) Ready to Learn, Atlantic Educational Consultants, Boca Raton, FL

Referred Journals

  • Bernstein, Arla, Helfenbein, Robert, Lane, David, & Prioleau, Brittany (2024), Narrative Communication of Teachers’ Support Needs for Violence-Based Trauma in the Schools, Journal of Trauma Studies in Education, Vol. 3, No.2, Pp. 90-108
  • Fernandes, Caroline M. & Lane, W. David (2021) Multicultural Supervision Best Practices, The Journal of Counseling Research and Practice, Vol. 6, No. 1, Pp 57-68
  • Estelhomme, Cherry, Lane, W. David, and Lane, Donna E. (2020) African American Clergy Attitudes Regarding Affirmative, Counseling with Sexual Minorities, Journal of Psychology and Christianity, Vol. 39, No. 2, Pp 134-140
  • Menard, R., Robinson, K., Lane, D. E., and Lane, W. D. (2018) Group Approach to Narrative Therapy: A Review of the Literature, Journal of Counseling Research and Practice, Vol. 3, Number 1
  • Lane, W. David, Myers, Keith J., and Lane, Donna E. (2017) Brief Narrative Trauma Treatment with Survivors of Natural Disaster, Kentucky Journal of Professional Counseling, Issue 1, Vol. 2, Pp 21-31
  • Lane, W. David, Myers, Keith J., Hill, Maurice C., and Lane, Donna E. (2016) Utilizing Narrative Methodology in Trauma Treatment with Haitian Earthquake Survivors, The Journal of Loss and Trauma, Vol. 21, Issue 6, Pp. 560-574

Awards or recognition

  • 2024-Honorable Mention-Royal Dragonfly Book Awards in the category: Picture Books 5 and Younger for Luna Blanca! (2023). The Royal Dragonfly Book Awards recognizes and honors authors in the field of children’s literature whose books inspire, inform, teach, or entertain. When a book earns the Royal Dragonfly Book Award, it means that children are recommending the book to other children.
  • 2024-Gold Medal- BookFest Awards in the category of Fiction: Juvenile Myths and Fables The Mountain Whippoorwill (2024) by Stephen Vincent Binet, as told by John McEuen, edited by David Lane. Illustrated by Buddy Finethy and Jas Ingram. The BookFestAwards honors authors who create outstanding works of fiction and nonfiction
  • 2024- Finalist- The Best Book Awards by The American Book Fest, in the category Poetry: Narrative, for The Mountain Whippoorwill by Stephen Vincent Binet, as told by John McEuen, edited by David Lane, Illustrated by Buddy Finethy and Jas Ingram. The American Book Fest Best Book Awards is one of the world’s largest international book award programs for mainstream, indie, and self-published titles.
  • 2024-Winner-New York City Big Book Awards, in the category Preschool Picture Book, for Luna Blanca! (2023). The New York City Big Book Awards recognizing quality books for independently and traditionally published authors, publishers, big and small presses.
  • 2024-Honorable Mention-Purple Dragonfly Book Awards, in the category Picture Books 5 and Younger, for Luna Blanca! (2023) The Purple Dragonfly Book Awards recognizes and honors authors in the field of children’s literature whose books inspire, inform, teach, or entertain. When a book earns the Purple Dragonfly Book Award, it means that children are recommending the book to other children.
  • 2024-Finalist- National Indie Excellence Awards in the category Preschool Picture Books for Luna Blanca! (2023). The National Indie Excellence Awards is proud to be a champion of self-publishing and small independent presses going the extra mile to produce books of excellence in every aspect.
  • 2024-Winner- Literary Global Independent Author Awards in the category of Picture Books-Preschool for Luna Blanca! (2023) The Literary Global Independent Author Awards honor a diverse range of English-language books, extending a warm welcome to submissions from small presses, mid-size independent publishers, university presses, and self-published authors alike.
  • 2024-Winner- Literary Global Independent Author Awards in the category of Children’s Fiction (ages 3-8) for I Have Questions, Lots and Lots of Questions: A True Story of Christmas (2022). The Literary Global Independent Author Awards honor a diverse range of English-language books, extending a warm welcome to submissions from small presses, mid-size independent publishers, university presses, and self-published authors alike.

Contact Dr. Lane

678.547.6301
lane_wd@mercer.edu

Office location:

Administration and Conference Center (AACC) Building, Atlanta campus
Room 368