Exploring the Psycho-Social Impact of COVID-19

Covers the psycho-social impact on society and individuals and our collective cooperative behaviour, as well as philanthropic efforts, coping strategies and technological interventions and how lessons learned will help in preparedness for the future.

Dr Rajesh Verma (PhD) is Assistant Professor and Student of Psychology at Feroz Gandhi Memorial Government College, Adampur, Haryana, India. He is an air veteran and academic gold medalist and completed his doctorate from MD University Rohtak. As a report writer, he worked on a DST-funded project on cognitive preparedness. His area of interest lies in indigenous psychology, cognitive psychology, social psychology, psychometrics, organising academic events, and content writing. Recently, he organised the ICSSR-sponsored National Conference on “Bhagavad Gita: An Eternal Repository of Multi-disciplinary Lessons for Mankind”. He is tech-savvy, uploads psychology curriculum content-specific videos, and writes blogs regularly. He loves to interact with students.

Dr Uzaina (PhD, CPsychol) is a Practitioner Counselling Psychologist passionate about helping families and neurodiverse children. She holds critical positions as Research and Psychology Training Lead at Geniuslane in India and the United Kingdom. Additionally, she founded Psyche Vitality and is the Director of the Association of Child Brain Research and CDC Solutions India. Dr Uzaina's expertise lies in conducting diagnostic assessments and providing essential counselling and support to families. With nearly a decade of experience, she has dedicated herself to offering short-term and long-term counselling and psychotherapy services to adolescents, women, and families. She remains actively engaged in continuous research audits, furthering her commitment to advancing the field of psychology. She also takes great pride in delivering comprehensive training programmes to psychology trainees, sharing her knowledge and expertise with the next generation of professionals.

Dr Gyanesh Kumar Tiwari (PhD) Gyanesh Kumar Tiwari is Assistant Professor at Dr Harisingh Gour Vishwavidyalaya, Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, India. His research interests include forgiveness, positive body image, self-affirmation, self-compassion, eyewitness memory, metacognition, and the psychology of women. He is an active academician with extensive publications and projects. He also holds key roles in various organisations.

Prof. Leister Sam Sudheer Manickam (PhD) currently practices telepsychotherapy, is a trainer and supervisor of gestalt psychotherapy and is engaged in independent research. He earned his Master's degree in psychology from the University of Kerala. He did his clinical psychology training at the National Institute of Mental Health And Neuro Sciences, Bengaluru and PhD from Columbia Pacific University, USA. He served as professor of clinical psychology and Hon. founder director of Centre for Applied Psychological Studies, Thiruvananthapuram, India. Also, he served as Director of Training and Research, Mhat, Calicut, India. He had also served as Director of wellness and mental health at Trias Health Technologies, Bengaluru. He was formerly a Professor of clinical psychology at JSS Academy of Higher Education and Research, Mysuru, India. He had taught at the Department of Psychiatry, Christian Medical College, Vellore and CSI Medical College Karakkonam. He was a visiting fellow at the University of Birmingham, UK., and is a gestalt psychotherapy trainer who had undergone training in different forms of therapy abroad. He is the Fellow of several psychology and psychiatry associations in India, former General Secretary of the Indian Association of Clinical Psychologists and initiator of the Indian Psychologists Network. He is the author of the book, ‘Integrative Psychotherapy: Indian Perspective’ and edited the book ‘COVID-19 Pandemic: Challenges and Responses of Psychologists from India’. He was awarded Excellence in International Scholarship by Division 17 of the American Psychology Association, USA.

Dr Tushar Singh (D. Phil) is Professor of Psychology at the Department of Psychology, Baanras Hindu University, Uttar Pradesh, India. He obtained his D. Phil in psychology from the University of Allahabad and served as Assistant Professor at Banaras Hindu University. His research focuses on understanding the miseries of and advocation for the rights of gender and social minorities, including but not limited to LGBTQ+, abused women and children. He is also involved in academic administration and is associated with various national and international organisations in various capacities.