Prof Juanita Meyer is Associate Professor in Pastoral Care and Therapy and Head of the Department of Practical and Missional Theology in the Faculty of Theology and Religion at the University of the Free State. Her academic work is located within practical theology, pastoral theology, pastoral care, counselling, trauma studies, research methodology, engaged scholarship and theological reflection. She is an ordained tentmaker minister in the Dutch Reformed Church, an HPCSA-registered psychological counsellor and a pastoral therapist.

Prof Meyer completed her theological and psychological training at the University of Pretoria. Her doctoral research in Practical Theology, with specialisation in Pastoral Family Therapy, focused on the spiritual and psychosocial gender-specific stories of adolescent orphans affected by HIV and Aids in the absence of a father figure. This research formed the basis for her ongoing interest in father absence, masculinity, orphanhood, trauma, vulnerability, spiritual identity, narrative approaches and pastoral care.

Her teaching includes undergraduate and postgraduate modules in Practical and Missional Theology, with particular attention to pastoral care, counselling, trauma, human development, spirituality, research methodology and theological reflection in practice. She has also contributed to research methodology teaching in the Faculty and Department, supporting students in research design, conceptual development, ethical awareness and postgraduate research preparation.

Her postgraduate supervision includes completed PhD, research master’s, MTh and Honours-level research projects. Her supervision approach is informed by academic structure, ethical research practice, pastoral sensitivity and the development of students’ own scholarly voices.

Prof Meyer’s publications include peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, book reviews and public-facing theological contributions. Her research has addressed themes such as HIV and Aids, orphanhood, masculinity, father absence, trauma, resilience, pastoral therapy, spirituality, human dignity, reconciliation and practices of care.

Her work also includes engaged scholarship through partnerships with community and institutional contexts such as schools, youth care organisations, addiction recovery contexts, correctional services and church communities. These partnerships are connected to teaching and learning and allow students to relate theological reflection to contexts of vulnerability, care and social responsibility.

In terms of academic service, Prof Meyer has served as Head of Department, Chair of the Faculty Research Committee, member of several faculty and university committees, ethics reviewer, external examiner, article reviewer and participant in national and international academic networks. Her academic profile brings together teaching, research, supervision, community engagement, pastoral practice and institutional service.

Prof Juanita Meyer’s publication profile reflects her work in pastoral theology, practical theology, pastoral care, counselling, trauma, masculinity, father absence, orphanhood, spirituality, resilience, pastoral therapy, human dignity and practices of care. Her publications developed from earlier research on HIV and Aids, orphanhood, poverty and father absence, and later expanded towards broader pastoral-theological questions related to vulnerability, reconciliation, narrative identity, trauma, spiritual meaning-making and human flourishing.

Her peer-reviewed journal articles include publications in theological journals such as HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies, Verbum et Ecclesia, Acta Theologica and the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. These publications address themes such as the spiritual narratives of adolescent orphans affected by HIV and Aids, the use of metaphors in narrative research, masculinity and father absence, the construction of a spiritual self, dominant discourses on gender and masculinity, pastoral therapy as a professional qualification, and the relationship between masculinity, religiosity and spirituality in postcolonial and post-apartheid South Africa.

Prof Meyer has also contributed to scholarly book projects. Her book chapters include work on the spiritual narratives of adolescent orphaned boys in South Africa and on pastoral theology and resilience in contexts of trauma. These contributions reflect her interest in narrative approaches, theological meaning-making and care in contexts of adversity.

Her publications also include public-facing and church-facing theological contributions. These include reflections on grief during the COVID-19 lockdown, healing and comfort in relation to the work of the Holy Spirit, and pastoral-theological reflection for church and community contexts. These publications connect academic theology with accessible forms of pastoral reflection.

In addition to her own publications, Prof Meyer has contributed to academic publishing through book reviews, article reviews, monograph reviews and editorial work. She has reviewed for accredited journals and has participated in processes related to academic quality and scholarly development.

Overall, her publication record reflects a developing research trajectory from specific work on vulnerable children, gendered identity and father absence towards wider questions of trauma, reconciliation, resilience, dignity and flourishing. Her publications are rooted in South African and African contexts, while also engaging wider conversations in practical theology, pastoral theology, trauma, care and counselling.

Publications in peer-reviewed/refereed journals

Loubser, J. & Muller, J. 2007. ‘Spiritual narratives of female adolescent orphans affected by HIV and Aids and poverty’, Practical Theology in South Africa/Praktiese Teologie in Suid-Afrika, 22(1):83–97.

Loubser, J. & Müller, J.C. 2011. ‘The use of metaphors in narrative research in exploring and describing experiences of adolescent male orphans affected by HIV and AIDS’, HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies, 67(2), Art. #1009, 9 pages.

Meyer, J. 2013. ‘Adolescent male orphans affected by HIV and AIDS, poverty and fatherlessness: A story of marginalisation’, HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies, 69(1), Art. #1932, 10 pages.

Meyer, J. 2013. ‘Deconstructing masculinity: Dominant discourses on gender, sexuality and HIV and AIDS from the experience of the adolescent male orphan’, HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies, 69(1), Art. #1947, 12 pages.

Meyer, J. 2014. ‘Development of alternative interpretations: The story of an orphaned boy affected by HIV and AIDS and father abandonment’, Verbum et Ecclesia, 35(2), Art. #884, 13 pages.

Meyer, J. 2015. ‘An interdisciplinary investigation into the narratives of three co-researchers: A postfoundational notion of Practical Theology’, HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies, 71(3), Art. #3159, 9 pages.

Meyer, J. 2016. ‘‘I am who I am’: Deconstructing orphaned boys’ references to God. An application of the postfoundational notion of Practical Theology’, Verbum et Ecclesia, 37(1), Art. #1494.

Meyer, J. 2017. ‘Dominant discourses on what it means to be a “real” man in South Africa: The narratives of adolescent male orphans’, HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies, 73(2), a4591.

Meyer, J. 2018. ‘Restructuring the Christian Fatherhood Model: A practical theological investigation into the “male problematic” of father absence’, HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies, 74(1), 4870.

Meyer, J. 2018. Book review of An introduction to practical theology: History, theory, and the communication of the gospel in the present, Acta Theologica, 38(1).

Meyer, J. & Fourie, H. 2019. ‘Exploring a narrative approach through music as a pastoral care means to human flourishing’, Verbum et Ecclesia, 40(1), a1919.

Meyer, J. 2020. ‘Investigating the nature of and relation between masculinity and religiosity and/or spirituality in a postcolonial and post-apartheid South Africa’, HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies, 76(1), a5663.

Meyer, J. 2020. ‘Developing pastoral therapy as a professional qualification in South Africa: Rationale and motivation’, HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies, 76(2), a5659.

Meyer, J. 2023. ‘Women in Yoruba Religions. By Oládém?, Oyèrónké’. New York: NYU Press, 2022. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 62:213–214.

Books and/or chapters in books

Meyer, J. 2020. ‘A practical theological narration of the spiritual narratives of adolescent orphaned boys in South Africa in the construction of a spiritual self’, in J.J. Knoetze & V. Kozhuharov (eds), Powers, inequalities and vulnerabilities: Impact of globalisation on children, youth and families and on the mission of the church, Reformed Theology in Africa Series, Vol. 4. Cape Town: AOSIS, pp. 233–265.

Meyer, J. 2023. ‘Surviving my story of trauma: A pastoral theology of resilience’, in C.A.M. Hermans & K. Schoeman (eds), Resilient Religion, Resilience and Heartbreaking Adversity. Wien: LIT Verlag.

Other publications

Loubser, J. & Merington, M.M. 2009. Arts and Science of Teaching, NQF Level 2. Cape Town: JUTA and Company Ltd.

Loubser, J. 2009. Learning Psychology, NQF Level 2. Cape Town: JUTA and Company Ltd.

Loubser, J. 2009. Human and Social Development, NQF Level 2. Cape Town: JUTA and Company Ltd.

Meyer, J. 2020. ‘Grief in a time of Covid-19 lockdown’, in G. van der Watt (ed.), Tools for Pastoral Care in Covid-19 Lockdown Time. Wellington: Christian Literature Fund/Christelike Literatuur Fonds.

Meyer, J. 2021. ‘Die Gees vertroos en genees (individue en gemeenskappe)’, in E. Orsmond & G. van der Watt (eds), Die Heilige Gees maak heel en nuut: Pinkstertyd 2021. Wellington: Christian Literature Fund/Christelike Literatuur Fonds.

Meyer, J. 2022 - 2026. ‘Newsletter’, The Annual Publication Fair, Research Committee of the Faculty of Theology and Religion, University of the Free State.

Meyer, J. 2024. ‘Interview with Prof Julian Müller: Reflection on a career in Practical Theology’, Acta Theologica, 44(1):3–12.

Meyer, J. 2026. ‘Laaste Gedagte: Tussen “Hier is ek!” en “Wie is ek?”’, Die Vrypos, Jaargang 24, 17 April 2026, NGK Vrystaat/DRC Free State.

Prof Juanita Meyer’s research is located within pastoral theology, practical theology, pastoral care and counselling. Her work focuses on vulnerability, trauma, reconciliation, identity, dignity and human flourishing. Her current research direction may be described as fracture, reconciliation and flourishing in pastoral theology, with particular attention to vulnerable and changing ecologies. This research explores how human identity, dignity and meaning are negotiated within embodied, relational, social, institutional, spatial and digital contexts.

Her research trajectory began with work on HIV and Aids, orphanhood, poverty, father absence and spiritual identity. Her MA and doctoral research formed part of a wider concern with children and adolescents affected by HIV and Aids and disrupted forms of care. Her doctoral work focused on the spiritual and psychosocial gender-specific stories of adolescent orphans affected by HIV and Aids in the absence of a father figure. This research engaged the narratives of adolescent boys and explored the relationship between father absence, masculinity formation, psychosocial vulnerability, spiritual identity and pastoral care.

Following her doctoral research, Prof Meyer’s work expanded into the study of masculinity, fatherhood, gendered vulnerability, religiosity, spirituality and relational formation in postcolonial and post-apartheid South Africa. Her publications examine dominant discourses on masculinity, the consequences of father absence, and the theological and psychosocial narratives through which boys and men understand themselves, others and God.

Her current work builds on these earlier themes by exploring theological storying, trauma, fragmentation, loss, vulnerability, reconciliation and restored agency. She is interested in how people and communities narrate their experiences of pain, loss, hope and theological meaning, and how pastoral theology may contribute to processes of care, meaning-making and reconstruction. Her work is informed by postfoundational, narrative, contextual and interdisciplinary approaches.

Prof Meyer’s research also includes emerging interest in digital and relational ecologies of care. This includes digital oikoi, digitally mediated vulnerability, online forms of relationality, and the pastoral implications of care in technologically shaped contexts. This work extends her earlier concern with embodied vulnerability into contemporary questions of spatial, institutional and digital belonging.

Her research is connected to teaching, supervision and engaged scholarship. She has supervised postgraduate research in pastoral care, practical theology, counselling, trauma, church and society, and contextual theological practice. She has also linked her research to community-based learning contexts, including schools, youth care, addiction recovery, correctional services and church communities. Her research therefore connects academic reflection with contexts where questions of care, vulnerability and dignity are encountered in practice.

Prof Juanita Meyer’s areas of interest include pastoral theology, practical theology, pastoral care, counselling, trauma, vulnerability, human dignity, reconciliation and flourishing. Her work is concerned with how people, communities and institutions make meaning amid experiences of rupture, loss, marginalisation, trauma, exclusion and uncertainty. A central interest in her work is the relationship between lived experience and theological reflection, particularly where human stories of vulnerability are considered in relation to practices of care, counselling, pastoral accompaniment and theological interpretation.

One area of interest is pastoral theology in vulnerable ecologies. This includes embodied, relational, social, institutional, spatial and digital contexts in which vulnerability is experienced and negotiated. She is interested in how people’s identities are shaped within such contexts and how pastoral theology may contribute to restored agency, spiritual meaning-making, reconciliation and flourishing.

A further area of interest is theological storying and narrative identity. Prof Meyer’s work is informed by narrative and postfoundational approaches that take seriously the stories people tell about themselves, others, God, suffering, hope and healing. She is interested in how dominant and harmful narratives may be identified and how alternative interpretations may be developed in pastoral and counselling contexts. This interest connects with her earlier research on orphanhood, father absence, masculinity and the spiritual narratives of adolescent boys and girls affected by HIV and Aids.

Prof Meyer is also interested in masculinity, fatherhood and gendered vulnerability. Her research has explored dominant discourses on masculinity in South Africa, the effects of father absence, and the theological and psychosocial narratives through which boys and men understand themselves. This has developed into a wider concern with gender, identity, power, accountability, trauma and care in church and society.

Her interests also include trauma-informed pastoral care, resilience, reconciliation and human flourishing. She is concerned with ways in which pastoral theology can contribute to care after trauma while acknowledging complexity and avoiding simplified responses to suffering. She is interested in practices of care that honour human dignity, restore agency and accompany people through processes of meaning-making.

Additional areas of interest include pastoral therapy as a professional field, research methodology, postgraduate research formation, theological education, ethics of care, professional ethics, engaged scholarship, service learning and work-integrated learning. Her work also includes interest in pastoral oikoi and emerging ecologies of trauma and care, especially how digital spaces shape belonging, vulnerability, relationality and pastoral responsibility.

Prof Juanita Meyer’s areas of expertise include pastoral theology, practical theology, pastoral care, pastoral counselling, pastoral therapy, trauma-informed care, narrative approaches, theological reflection in practice, research methodology, postgraduate supervision, engaged scholarship and academic leadership. Her expertise is shaped by theological training, psychological formation, pastoral practice, counselling experience, community-based care, postgraduate supervision and institutional service.

In pastoral theology and practical theology, her expertise is connected to vulnerability, trauma, identity, dignity, reconciliation and flourishing. She works with contextual, narrative and postfoundational approaches that consider lived experience as an important source for theological reflection. Her work engages the stories, experiences and practices of people and communities in relation to theological meaning, ethical care and social responsibility.

In pastoral care and counselling, Prof Meyer works with practices of care that address trauma, grief, vulnerability, relational disruption, spiritual struggle and meaning-making. As an HPCSA-registered psychological counsellor and pastoral therapist, she brings professional counselling insight into her academic teaching, research and supervision. Her pastoral care work is informed by church, community, counselling and educational contexts.

Prof Meyer also has expertise in masculinity, father absence, orphanhood, gendered vulnerability and spiritual identity. Her doctoral and subsequent research explored the lives of adolescent orphans affected by HIV and Aids, the absence of father figures, and the ways in which gendered and spiritual identities are formed amid social and relational vulnerability. This continues to inform her broader work on trauma, reconciliation, narrative reconstruction and human flourishing.

Another area of expertise is research methodology and postgraduate research formation. Prof Meyer has taught research methodology at undergraduate and postgraduate levels and has supported students in conceptual clarity, research design, ethical awareness and methodological development. She has supervised postgraduate students to completion and has examined master’s dissertations and doctoral theses.

Prof Meyer’s expertise also extends to engaged scholarship and service learning. She has developed and maintained partnerships with schools, youth care organisations, rehabilitation centres, correctional services and church communities. Through these partnerships, she integrates teaching, research and community engagement in ways that prepare students for contextually sensitive practices of care.

Finally, Prof Meyer’s experience includes academic leadership, research governance and ethics. Her roles as Head of Department, Chair of the Faculty Research Committee, ethics committee member and participant in several faculty and university structures have provided opportunities to contribute to departmental coordination, research development, postgraduate processes, ethical review and institutional service. Her expertise therefore brings together scholarly work, pastoral sensitivity, professional ethics, postgraduate development and responsible academic service.

Prof Juanita Meyer teaches undergraduate and postgraduate modules in Practical and Missional Theology, with emphasis on pastoral care, counselling, trauma, human development, spirituality, practical theology, research methodology and theological reflection in practice. Her teaching is informed by academic reflection, ethical formation, reflective practice, engaged scholarship and professional preparation. She understands theological education as a process through which students are introduced to academic content, critical thinking, ethical reflection and contextually responsible practice.

Her current teaching workload includes undergraduate and postgraduate modules and contributes to the Department’s teaching programme. Her teaching profile includes pastoral care and counselling, practical theology, research methodology and modules that require students to relate theological theory to practice-based reflection. She has also contributed to research methodology teaching in the Faculty and Department, supporting students in formulating research problems, developing research designs, engaging literature, understanding ethics and preparing for postgraduate research.

At undergraduate level, her teaching introduces students to foundational concepts in pastoral care, practical theology, human development, counselling and theological reflection. Students are guided to understand care as an ethically responsible, theologically informed and contextually sensitive practice. Her teaching encourages students to reflect on lived experience, trauma, vulnerability, family systems, social contexts and practices of support.

At postgraduate level, her teaching focuses on research formation, advanced pastoral-theological reflection, counselling theory, trauma, spirituality, ethics and contextual practice. She supports students in developing conceptual clarity, methodological awareness, critical reading skills and the ability to engage complex theological and social questions. Her postgraduate teaching is linked to supervision, research development and postgraduate formation in practical and missional theology.

A feature of Prof Meyer’s teaching is the integration of engaged scholarship and service learning. Modules such as TPAS3722, TPAS4822 and TFDI7910 have been linked to structured engagement activities with partners such as Marthie du Plessis School, ENGO Youth Care, Grootvlei Correctional Services and Aurora Drug and Rehabilitation Centre. Through these partnerships, students are exposed to contexts of vulnerability, disability, youth care, family care, addiction recovery, rehabilitation and institutional care. These experiences are integrated into course outcomes and assessment practices, allowing students to connect theory with reflective practice.

Prof Meyer’s teaching is also shaped by her professional experience as an HPCSA-registered counsellor, pastoral therapist and ordained minister. This enables her to bring theoretical, ethical and practical dimensions into the classroom. Her teaching approach emphasises care, accountability, critical thinking, ethical discernment, academic discipline and human dignity.