Leila Roach

Associate Professor of Counselor Education, Chair of Counselor Education

Dr. Roach has 22 years experience counseling children, adolescents, adults, couples and families, including members of the deaf community, in a variety of settings.

  • PhD, counselor education, University of Central Florida
  • MEd, human development counseling, Vanderbilt University
  • BS, special education, University of Tennessee

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Leila Roach

Biography

Leila Roach, PhD, is licensed as a Marriage & Family Therapist (LMFT) and as a Mental Health Counselor (LMHC). She is an approved qualified supervisor (AQS) for both LMFT and LMHC and holds the credential of Nationally Certified Counselor (NCC). Leila believes in the strength of relationships for promoting resiliency and wellbeing in individuals, couples, families, and organizations. She currently serves as associate professor and chair of the Department of Counselor Education at Stetson University in DeLand, Florida where she teaches couple and family counseling courses and supervises Practicum and Internship students. She has been practicing as a counselor for 30 years working with children, adolescents, adults, couples, and families in community agencies, public schools, university counseling clinics, churches, and private practice.

Leila has advanced training in Emotion Focused Therapy (EFT), in the Gottman Method of Relationship Therapy, and in disaster mental health and crisis intervention. She is a seminar director for the Prepare/Enrich Program. She has facilitated seminars and presented at conferences and workshops internationally, nationally, and locally. She has served as a consultant and expert reviewer to other universities and currently conducts program reviews for accreditation as a team chair for the Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP).
Leila's interest in diversity, global mental health issues, and international counseling has taken her to the country of Bhutan twice for extended periods while serving with the National Board of Certified Counselors International. She has provided counseling, training, and supervision with the Ministry of Health as they work to develop culturally appropriate counseling amid the growing concern over the rise in substance abuse and suicide. She holds clinical membership in the American Counseling Association (ACA) and the American Association for Marriage & Family Therapy (AAMFT), and is active on the national, state, and local level. She is currently serving as the immediate past-president of the Association for Spiritual, Ethical, and Religious Values in Counseling (ASERVIC), a division of the American Counseling Association.

More About Leila Roach

Areas of Expertise

  • Counselor Wellness
  • Couple and Family Counseling
  • Spirituality in Counseling

Course Sampling

  • Human Relations Methods and Skills
  • Group Counseling
  • Family Systems
  • Marriage and Relationship Counseling
  • Seminar in Marriage, Couple, and Family Counseling
  • Practicum in Marriage, Couple, and Family Counseling
  • Internship I in Marriage, Couple, and Family Counseling
  • Internship II in Marriage, Couple, and Family Counseling
  • Advanced Family Theories and Techniques

  • Counseling in Bhutan: This project is focused on the scholarship of integration, application, and engagement where previous research is used to inform evidence-based interventions to address societal issues and clinical and population-based-care in the country of Bhutan.

  • Values Conflicts and Ethical Decision-Making: The purpose of this research is to understand and give voice to how practicing counselors experience and resolve issues when they are faced with values conflicts in their work with clients.

  • The Good Samaritan Program Evaluation Project: The purpose of this research is to evaluate the counseling related services at the Good Samaritan Clinic where Stetson Practicum students have been seeing patients in counseling for the past 3 years.
  • The influence of counselor education programs on counselor wellness: The purpose of this project is a continuation of research into wellness in Counselor Education programs using the 5F-Wel.

  • Roach, L. F. (2014). Case Response to Motherhood and Spirituality. In T. Robert (Ed.). Critical incidents in integrating spirituality into counseling. Alexandria, VA: American Counseling Association.

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    Curry, J. & Roach, L. F. (2012). Integrating client religious beliefs in counseling: Evolving theory, research, education, and practice. Religion & Education, 39(3), 320-337. doi:10.1080/15507394.2012.716353
  • Roach, L. F., Noonan, B. M., & Walter, S. M. (Summer 2012). A Systemic Approach to Program Evaluation and Student Learning Outcomes in Counselor Education. Professional Issues in Counseling. http://www.shsu.edu/~piic/Summer2012.htm
  • Roach, L. F. & Young, M. E. (2011). Spirituality: Benefits of belief. In P. Granello (Ed.) Wellness Counseling. Prentice Hall, Inc.
  • Roach, L. F. and Young, M. E. (2011). "Spirituality and Wellness." In P. Granello (Ed.) Wellness Counseling. Prentice Hall, Inc.
  • Roach, L. F. (2009). "Human development, key people in." In B. Erford (Ed.). ACA Encyclopedia of Counseling: Vol. 14. Alexandria, VA: American Counseling Association.
  • Roach, L. F., and Young, M. E. (2007). "Do counselor education programs promote wellness in their students?" Journal of Counselor Education and Supervision, 47 (1).
  • Roach, L. F., Noonan, B., and Long, L. (2007) "Advocating for couples around the globe." International Counseling Association Special Edition, 106-110.
  • Noonan, B., Roach, L. F., Long, L. (2007) "Advocacy, Competency and Counselor Development." International Counseling Association Special Edition, 176-179.