PARALLEL PAPERS ABSTRACT SUBMISSION 

DEADLINE EXTENDED TO 28^THJANUARY 2024 MIDNIGHT CET

 ISPSO 40^th ANNUAL SYMPOSIUM, SOFIA,BULGARIA

 5th-7th July 2024

https://form.jotform.com/ispso_99/ispso-am-2024-paper-abstract

Dear Colleagues,

Happy New Year. I hope this finds you all well.

We really are very grateful to all of those who have submitted a proposal for a Parallel Paper presentation by the deadline of the 7th January. We already have a good number of proposals. This is wonderful!

However, following some requests for an extension of the deadline due to the end of the year holidays and other situations, we have decided to extend the deadline for submission to  Sunday 28^th January 2024 midnight CET.

We welcome papers for the Parallel Paper Sessions that focus on the topic ““Civilizations and their discontents”: What does that mean for the psychoanalytic study of and work with organizations? (See attached the AS Theme Statement)

We live in a very difficult and worrying time: the COVID pandemic (still present in different ways), the unsettling changes in the climate, rapid digitalisation (e.g. zoom, teams or A.I.), huge waves of migration, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and war and, more recently, the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel and war. Many hotbeds of conflicts around the world have disrupted our lives and our environments. Among other causes, on the one hand, there seems to be a high degree of discontents, destructiveness, frustration, anger and hatred that is manifested through violence, horrors, atrocities, terror and dehumanization. On the other hand, there are different clashes of civilizations on a national scale, within the same country, and at the international level, as a consequence of the increasing migration phenomenon, various global conflicts and widespread suffering. This wider context deeply impacts and contaminates us as individuals and the groups and organisations in which we work, leading to unexpected and unthinkable changes.

This ISPSO AM 2024 will be taking place in South Eastern Europe, a crossroads of civilisations and disruptions through the centuries. This is the right place, space and time for exploring at a conscious and unconscious level the connections and the tensions between civilizations and discontents in groups and organisations and how systems develop in response to them.

As psychoanalytical professionals of different orientations and different professional roles, we are all invited to think together:

• What are the conscious and unconscious dynamics, connections and tensions between discontents and civilizationsin which we are involved and are part of as members of groups and organisations?
• How can we live with multiple civilisations within groups and organisations without  polarisations?
• How are boundaries managed, when people from conflicting civilizations have to work together in national and international organisations?
• What types of anxieties underlie the defences that individuals, groups and systems develop, such as sticking solely to one’s own national identification?
• How are leadership and organisations affected in their structures and processes?
• Are our approaches to leadership still valid and appropriate today in a world characterised by multiple civilisationsand many discontents?
• How can discontent and clashes among civilizationsbe contained and worked through?
• How can our psychoanalytical conceptual frameworks, methods and tools support leaders and other clients to engage assuredly in groups and organisations in the future?

We invite you to send your abstract (max. 500 words) inspired by the topic and thoughts it evokes to https://form.jotform.com/ispso_99/ispso-am-2024-paper-abstract

by Sunday 28th January 2024 midnight CET.

The Symposium will be a hybrid event, papers can be presented in person and online.

Please indicate on the form how you wish to present.

PLEASE NOTE!
Please note that it is expected that authors of proposals that are accepted will complete the application for Continued Education (CE) credits. Details will be provided upon notification of acceptance. If you have any questions about CE credits or the application process, contact Jeff Axelbank at jeff@jeffreyaxelbankpsyd.com

We are looking forward to receiving your abstract submissions by Sunday 24^th  January 2024 midnight!

ISPSO 2024 Parallel Paper Selection Committee

Louisa Diana Brunner – Chair Parallel Paper Selection Committee

Antoaneta Mateeva – Co-Chair Annual Symposium

Irena Izotova – ISPSO President

Alexandra Gerny –  ISPSO President – Elect

Gerald Fromm – Past – President

Matias Sanfuentes – ISPSO Member

James Walker –  ISPSO Member