Lauren Lanehart (Latiolais), LMSW, MSgt (retd.) is a doctoral student at the University of Texas at Austin School of Social Work, a retired Master Sergeant of the United States Air Force, and Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI)® practitioner. Over the course of nearly fifteen years of military service, she served as a linguist, intelligence analyst, diplomat, and leader while volunteering extensively as a sexual assault victim’s advocate and prevention trainer, suicide crisis interventionist and awareness trainer, and resilience program facilitator. While on active duty, Lauren completed her Bachelor of Arts in International Relations with a concentration in Global Security and attained a Post-Baccalaureate from the University of California, Berkeley-Extension in Counseling & Psychology.
After transitioning to civilian life, Lauren earned her Master of Social Work from Texas Christian University (TCU), where she was recognized as the MSW Field Student of the Year for her work with Tarrant County Juvenile Services, awarded a scholarship to complete Trust-Based Relational Intervention® Practitioner Training, and served as Vice President of Mental Health and Wellness in the Graduate Student Senate. She was further honored with the Sherry Miller Melecki Endowed Graduate Fellowship in Social Work and multiple state-level appointments through NASW-TX, where she served as a student executive board member, chaired the 2025–2028 strategic planning committee, and acted as a policy engagement trustee. As a graduate research assistant to Dr. Ashley Palmer, PhD, LMSW, Assistant Professor, TCU, she co-authored a published manuscript on Workforce Innovation & Opportunity Act (WIOA) Youth Programs and contributed to a $199,000 Administration for Children and Families–funded grant examining education and employment pathways among low-income emerging adults. Under Dr. Nada Elias-Lambert, PhD, LMSW, Associate Professor, she served as the sole research assistant for the Bystander2Upstander (B2U) sexual violence prevention program, collaborating with Rutgers University on program evaluation and supporting survey development, IRB preparation, and intervention fidelity.
At UT Austin, Lauren works under the mentorship of Dr. Danielle Parrish, PhD, MSW, and Dr. Kirk von Sternberg, PhD, and is part of the Health Behavior Research and Training (HBRT) Institute, where she contributes to the CHOICES-Teen project, a risk-reduction intervention for justice-involved adolescent girls. Her research interests include justice-involved youth, resilience, intervention science, psychometrics, policy, and social work education. She is particularly interested in advancing evidence-based practice and policy in juvenile justice, developing resilience-based interventions, and strengthening the connection between research and practice in social work education. While in the doctoral program, she plans to investigate resilience theory in interventions with youth, particularly those who are justice-involved, to understand their strengths and needs within this population and the pathways that lead to justice involvement.