COVID-19 and Beyond

Joel Vos, PhD, MSc, MA, CPsychol, FHEA, is a chartered psychologist, philosopher, and cognitive‒behavioural and existential‒humanistic therapist. He is a researcher and lecturer at the Metanoia Institute in London and the director of IMEC International Meaning Events and Community. Dr. Vos has published over 120 scientific studies and supervised 80 research projects in counselling, clinical, and health psychology, with a focus on humanistic, existential, and transactional analysis psychotherapies. His expertise lies in meaning in life and society, social justice, and radicalization. He has published eight books, including Handbook of Evidence-Based Transactional Analysis (together with Van Rijn, Sage, 2025), Doing Research in Psychological Therapies: a Step-by-step Guide (Sage, 2023), Meaning in Life: an Evidence-based Handbook for Practitioners (Bloomsbury, 2019), Mental Health in Crisis (together with Roberts and Davies, Sage, 2019), The Psychology of COVID-19 (Sage, 2021), and The Economics of Meaning in Life (University Professors Press, 2020) For more information, visit https://joelvos.com.

Pninit Russo-Netzer, PhD, is an associate professor, senior lecturer and researcher. She is the head of the Resilience and Optimal Development Lab at Achva Academic College. Her main research and practice interests focus on meaning in life, positive psychology, existential psychology, spirituality, character strengths, positive change and growth. She is the founder and head of the Compass Institute for the Study and Application of Meaning in life, and the head of the Academic Training Program for Logotherapy (meaning-oriented psychotherapy) at Tel-Aviv University. She serves as academic advisor and consultant to both academic and non-academic institutions worldwide, including the World Trade Center (WTCHR) and UNICEF, and develops training programs and curricula for various organizations on positive psychology, logotherapy, leadership, meaning in life, resilience and spirituality worldwide. She is the recipient of the International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA) Spirituality and Meaning Researcher Award. She has published academic articles and chapters and is the co-author and co-editor of several books, including Meaning in Positive and Existential Psychology (Springer), Clinical Perspectives on Meaning: Positive and Existential Psychotherapy (Springer), Existential Authenticity (Springer) and Finding Meaning: An Existential Quest in Post-Modern Israel (Oxford University Press). She is passionate about building bridges—between disciplines and between theory and “real life” practice, in therapy, organizations, communities, and education throughout the lifespan.

Stefan E. Schulenberg received his PhD in clinical psychology, with a specialization in Clinical-Disaster Psychology, from the University of South Dakota in 2001. He is a licensed psychologist in the state of Mississippi, a professor in the University of Mississippi’s Psychology Department, and a Logotherapy Diplomate. Dr. Schulenberg is the director of the University of Mississippi’s Clinical-Disaster Research Center (UM-CDRC), an integrated research, teaching, and training center with emphases in disaster mental health and positive psychology. He is also the director of the University of Mississippi’s interdisciplinary minor in Disaster Sciences (DSci), a joint effort across the departments of psychology, criminal justice, social work, and sociology. Dr. Schulenberg has authored/co-authored numerous peer-reviewed journal articles and chapters in scholarly texts. He has edited or co-edited several scholarly texts, including Positive Psychological Approaches to Disaster: Meaning, Resilience, and Posttraumatic Growth (2020) and COVID-19 and Beyond: Psychological, Existential, and Therapeutic Perspectives on Mental Health and Meaning. Dr. Schulenberg’s research interests include clinical-disaster psychology, positive psychology, and logotherapy, concepts such as perceived meaning, purpose, resilience, posttraumatic stress, and posttraumatic growth. He has conducted research on the effects of Hurricane Katrina, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, COVID-19, and other disaster-related events such as tornadoes and flooding. Dr. Schulenberg works for the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Mississippi, where he also maintains a forensic psychological assessment and consultation practice. He offers workshops and provides training on disaster preparedness, psychological first aid, disaster response, meaning and purpose in life, resilience, posttraumatic growth, and development and applications of character strengths. He lives in Taylor, Mississippi with his son, Ezra (Why to the How), their dog, Teddy Roo, and their cats, Hunter and Sunny.