Dr. Rael Morley

Associate Professor

Dr. Rael Morley holds a Doctorate in Educational Psychology with an emphasis on Culture, Human Development, and Learning from the University of Texas. Dr. Morley’s research focus compassionate interventions to alleviate violence. More specifically their research relates to the impact of mindfulness meditation on criminality, aggression, antisocial behavior, and brain networks associated with violence. Dr. Morley has published multiple articles and has spoken at a variety of professional conferences concerning the intersection of violence, criminality, brain networks, mindfulness, and self-compassion. Also, Dr. Morley has conducted professional talks on several related topics including mindfulness, mental health, religiosity, self-compassion, and antisocial personality disorder. Dr. Morley was awarded multiple grants to explore the intersections of violence, mindfulness, and large-scale brain networks. Moreover, they received the Texas State College Achievement Award for Scholarly/Creative Activity in the Fall of 2015 and 2025. Dr. Morley has a published TED talk titled “Compassion as an Antidote for Violence” at TEDxTexasState.

Dr. Morley arrived in the Austin area after they graduated with their Bachelor’s degree in Corrections from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. Soon after their arrival in the Austin area, they went to work as a Parole Officer for the Parole Division of Texas Department of Criminal Justice. They left working for the Parole Division to pursue their master’s degree in human resource development at Texas State University. Following graduation, Dr. Morley became a placement specialist at Goodwill Industries of Central Texas where they helped former inmates find jobs. He transitioned into part-time employment to pursue a Ph.D. Also, they served as Chair of the Evidence Base Practice Subcommittee of Travis County Reentry Roundtable.

E-mail: rm79@txstate.edu