Prof Moen’s research is rooted in the psychology of violence, with a specific focus on family violence, family murder, and youth violence. Her work investigates how childhood adversity shapes patterns of aggression and explores behaviour regulation—including the impact of digital technology on delinquency. Through her extensive engagement with perpetrators and affected families, she seeks to understand the complexity of harm and healing within family systems. Her doctoral research on parricide has contributed to an emerging body of specialized scholarship in this rare but critical field. Beyond research, Prof Moen’s lectures on ethical dilemmas in violence research and regularly collaborates with criminology departments, deepening interdisciplinary understanding of family violence in South Africa. 

Dr Damons work focuses on the intersection of community-based participatory action research (CBPAR), social justice, and arts-based inquiry. Through collaborative partnerships, she emphasises community wisdom by using creative and expressive methods such as art, storytelling, sand stories, and performance that respect diverse ways of knowing and expression. Motivated by a mission to democratise expression, she creates environments where marginalized voices can thrive, employing innovative techniques like "sand as a server for voice" and exploring how AI can ethically and empoweringly amplify community narratives. As an educator and researcher, she promotes culturally responsive practices and encourages teachers to see themselves as researchers shaping equitable educational futures. She designs transformative learning experiences that combine CBPAR, arts-based data collection, and educational psychology to foster change at individual, community, and systemic levels. 

Dr. Conradie’s teaching and research engage deeply with the philosophical foundations of educational psychology, examining how philosophical inquiry informs our understanding of learning, human development, and therapeutic practice. Her work challenges the technocratic orientation of professional training by fostering a reflective, meaning-centred approach among student educational psychologists. Central to her scholarship is the development of an aesthetic orientation as a distinctive psychotherapeutic mindset, alongside the cultivation of onto-phenomenological awareness in emerging educational psychologists. As one of the few scholars in Africa dedicated to the philosophical underpinnings of educational psychology, Dr. Conradie offers a vital and distinctly South African perspective to this evolving global discourse. 

Dr Carmelita’s research focuses on educational support within single-mother families and on building stronger school–family–community partnerships. Her work aims to enhance teacher efficacy and readiness for authentic parent and community engagement by developing interventions that promote community cultural wealth and ultimately community cultural love. She challenges deficit narratives that portray parent involvement as negative, instead highlighting collective strengths and resilience within families and schools. Through her research and community-based projects, Dr Carmelita advocates for teacher professional development that broadens perspectives on what meaningful parent and community collaboration can look like in South Africa’s diverse educational contexts. 

Dr Matentjie’s research investigates how individuals navigate transitions across the lifespan—whether personal, educational, or professional. She examines how people construct meaning and identity during periods of change, such as students transitioning into professional roles as educational psychologists or young professionals entering the workforce. Drawing on critical reflection and Gestalt principles, her work explores resilience, decision-making, and the psychological resources individuals use to adapt and thrive. By connecting these insights to community psychology and career development, she contributes to understanding how individuals and communities can navigate adversity and transformation with purpose and agency. 

Dr Pollards research explores identity development and the psychosocial building blocks that shape human growth from early childhood through adulthood. Guided by Eriksonian theory, she investigates how unresolved developmental stages—such as trust, autonomy, and industry—resurface later in life, influencing how young adults form an integrated identity. Her work also examines how social media and digital environments impact identity construction among children and adults. Through this lens, Dr Pollard seeks to deepen understanding of how individuals navigate complex psychosocial challenges in modern society and how educators and psychologists can support healthy identity formation across developmental stages.