Rate My Professor Larry Gerstein

Lawrence (“Larry”) H. Gerstein is the George and Frances Ball Distinguished Professor of Psychology-Counseling at Ball State University in the Department of Counseling Psychology, Social Psychology, and Counseling within the College of Health. He serves as Director of the Center for Peace and Conflict Studies and Training Director of the PhD Counseling Psychology Program. Gerstein earned a B.B.A. in Public Administration from Bernard Baruch College in 1974, an M.A. in Rehabilitation Counseling in 1976, and a Ph.D. in Counseling and Social Psychology in 1983 from the University of Georgia, completing a pre-doctoral internship at the Southern Illinois University-Carbondale Counseling Center. His research specializations encompass cross-cultural psychology, nonviolence, social justice, emotion recognition and regulation, sports for youth development, and applications of social psychology. Over four decades at Ball State University, he advanced from Assistant Professor in 1983 to Professor in 1991 and his current distinguished professorship since 2011. A trained mediator and advisor to the City University of Hong Kong Department of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Gerstein is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association in Divisions 17 (Counseling Psychology), 48 (Peace Psychology), and 52 (International Psychology). His honors include the APA Division 17 Leona Tyler Award for Lifetime Achievement (2021), APA Award for Distinguished Contributions to the International Advancement of Psychology (2020), APA Division 48 Ignacio Martín-Baró Lifetime Peace Practitioner Award (2018), Fulbright Scholar appointments at Chinese University of Hong Kong (2013-2014) and City University of Hong Kong/Southwest Minzu University (2018-2019), Ball State University Outstanding Faculty Member of the Year (2016), and Researcher of the Year (2008).

Gerstein has co-edited key volumes such as “International Handbook of Cross-Cultural Counseling: Cultural Assumptions and Practices Worldwide” (2009), “Essentials of Cross-Cultural Counseling” (2012), “Handbook for Social Justice in Counseling Psychology: Leadership, Vision, and Action” (2005), and “Theories and Applications of Counseling and Psychotherapy: Relevance Across Cultures and Settings.” Highly cited publications include “How close are we? Measuring intimacy and examining gender differences” (2003) and “Methodological issues in cross-cultural counseling research: Equivalence, bias, and translations” (2008). He has secured over $2 million in external funding, including U.S. Department of State grants for training Iraqi young leaders in social entrepreneurship (2014-2015), Pakistani graduate students in American Studies (2021-2022), sports professionals in India (2018), and youth sport coaches in Jordan and Tajikistan (2011). Editorial roles include co-editor of the Journal for Social Action in Counseling and Psychology, past editor of the Journal of Mental Health Counseling, and past co-editor of The Counseling Psychologist International Forum. His professional activities extend to China, England, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Israel, Jordan, Korea, Myanmar, Pakistan, Portugal, St. Vincent Island, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Vietnam, and the USA.