Moving Toward Shared Understandings
in Psychosis and Extreme States:
Professional, Individual, and Family Perspectives

ISPS-US Virtual Conference

November 5-7, 2021

Psychosis and extreme states are complex, multifaceted phenomena. Mainstream mental health care in the United States has historically presented a narrow view of both root causes and treatments for the distressing symptoms associated with psychosis, viewing these experiences from a purely bio-medical framework. However, scientific advances over the past decades, and greater awareness of social, cultural, and societal influences on mental health have opened up opportunities to shift the conversation toward more humanistic, person-centered understandings. Thanks to the contributions of people with lived experience, family members, and enlightened practitioners, many of the experiences associated with psychosis are now understood as ways in which the human mind and spirit respond to confusing, challenging, and often difficult environments and relationships. While much progress has been made, much work remains to be done.

Join ISPS-US at our 2021 Conference and Annual Meeting as we consider the progress that can be made when multiple perspectives are honored in the treatment and understanding of psychosis.

We welcome presentations that examine and build upon rich collaborations between people with lived experience, family members, researchers, and clinicians across theory, practice, and innovation. We especially encourage presentations that acknowledge and address the additional burdens faced by people of color whose efforts simply to live in an increasingly hostile world can lead to psychosis and extreme states. Join us as we seek to  reimagine a future that offers greater hope, understanding, and possibility for all people who experience and struggle with extreme states.

This year we plan to include an interactive Creative Healing Space to present an array of therapeutic and creative arts modalities used for treatment, and as forms of self-expression that provide connection, comfort, joy, and healing. These can include origami, visual art, poetry, photography, music, dance, spoken word, and more. This Creative Healing Space was inspired by the ISPS International Congress, to be held in Perugia, Italy in September 2022. With permission, we will take these submissions with us to Perugia next year.

Conference Links

Call for Proposals
Sign the Disclosure Form
Examples of Learning Objectives
Bertram Karon Memorial Award

The International Organizing Committee of the Perugia ISPS conference, given the pandemic emergency, has decided to reschedule the Perugia conference of 2021 to next year on September 1st-4th, 2022.

Consequently the abstract presentation deadline has been extended until:
January 31st, 2022.
Submit an abstract here.

We would however like to maintain September 3rd-4th, 2021 as the date for a two-day "Co-constructing Healing Spaces" virtual conference.

At this virtual conference the plenary speakers will briefly present and discuss the following themes of the 2022 conference:

• CLOSING ASYLUMS / OPEN HEALING SPACES
• INTERSUBJECTIVITY AND PSYCHOSIS
• FAMILY INTERVENTIONS
• EARLY INTERVENTIONS
• TRAUMA, STRESS, ILLNESS AND PSYCHOSIS
• COVID PANDEMIC COMMUNITY AND PSYCHOSIS
• CREATIVITY AND NEW THERAPIES FOR PSYCHOSIS

A small participation fee will be charged.

Recordings are available from prior ISPS-US Annual Meetings

Free videos are available on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCj_RECrQLppQS4U-YFeJgRA

Videos for sale or rent are available on Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/ispsus (ISPS-US members get a 50% discount on paid videos. The code is in your welcome letter, or email Karen Stern for more information: contact@isps-us.org.)

A few audio files are available at http://isps-us.org/blog/category/audio-recording/

If you find our free resources helpful, please make a donation to ISPS-US: http://www.isps-us.org/donate.php

Videos recorded at ISPS International meetings, webinars, and other events are available at the YouTube channel for ISPS-UK and on the channel for ISPS-International.

• 'What is psychosis?'
• Rai Waddingham keynote
• Kwame McKenzie keynote
• Grainne Fadden & Shelagh Musgrave keynote
• Jim Van Os keynote
• Debra Lampshire keynote
• Luciana Berger, Sir Robin Murray & Debra Lampshire keynote
• Svein Friis, Anne Berit Eie Torbjørnsen & Jon Vidar Strømstad keynote
• Alison Brabban keynote