Victor Counted

Dr Victor Counted, Ph.D. is a psychological scientist, practical theologian, and one of the leading global voices on the intersections of health, religion, and human flourishing. He serves as Associate Professor of Psychology and Director of the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs at Regent University in Virginia Beach, Virginia, where he also leads the Abundant Life Flourishing Lab. His scholarship extends to the world's most elite research circles as a Faculty Affiliate of the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard University and as a researcher in the Global Flourishing Study, a landmark multi-country initiative exploring the conditions that enable people and societies to thrive.

Counted holds two doctorates — one in Health Psychology from Western Sydney University and another in the Psychology of Religion from the University of Groningen, Netherlands — bringing rare interdisciplinary depth to his work. He has authored six books and more than 100 peer-reviewed articles examining the psychological processes that shape health and well-being across cultures, with particular focus on attachment, place, spiritual life, and the body.

His research is guided by the Integrative Process Model of Human Flourishing, which maps the mechanisms, disruptions, adaptive responses, and outcomes that determine whether individuals and communities move toward wholeness or fragmentation. Flagship work has appeared in journals such as Nature Mental Health, Scientific Reports, and the Journal of Happiness Studies.

A Fellow of the International Society for Science and Religion, Counted serves as Associate Editor of the Journal of Positive Psychology and Series Editor for Springer's Religion, Spirituality, and Health imprint. He sits on the executive boards of major scholarly bodies, including APA Division 36, and advises across academia, public policy, and the organizational sector through Counted Solutions LLC. He is also Chair of the Africa Flourishing Initiative, building research capacity across the continent through strategic partnerships and indigenous knowledge frameworks.

Counted resides in Virginia with his wife, Jessie, and their two sons.