CALL FOR PROPOSALS EXTENDED THROUGH 12/23/2023 FOR THE
17TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE IN PERSON AT THE
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN IN ANN ARBOR!

HTTPS://BIT.LY/SHP2024OLDSAYBROOKPROPOSALS

To commemorate the 60th anniversary of the original Old Saybrook conference, the theme of the 2024 SHP conference is Old Saybrook 3.

Dear SHP Members,  

In 1964, an eclectic array of founding humanistic psychologists gathered at a country inn in Old Saybrook, Connecticut to formalize the Third Force in psychology. Seeing  the substantial limitations of reductionistic natural science psychology and the dogmatic determinism of Freudian psychoanalysis, they formulated holistic, existential, phenomenological, and relational alternatives. Also, being invested in the social justice movements of the time, they developed theory and interventions for social action. 

Thirty-six years later, in 2000, humanistic psychologists convened at University of West Georgia for Old Saybrook 2. The purpose of that meeting was to rekindle the vision of  psychology articulated at Old Saybrook 1 for the new millennium. A simultaneous aim was to re-vision humanistic psychology to meet the demands of the great cultural transformations at the dawn of the 21st century. To paraphrase the provocative conference description: How could humanistic psychology reaffirm its emphasis on the  plenitude and subtleties of human being in an era of information technology? What about in the face of a global economy, environmental crises, and rampant industrialization of mental health and human services? And what aspects of humanistic theorizing required expansion and/or deconstruction and reconstruction? 

Today, almost a quarter-century later, we are met with the challenges posed by an onslaught of inter- and intra-personal precarities and existential threats in a world on  fire. To keep humanistic psychology in a state of becoming and therefore relevant for new and future generations, it is again time to recontextualize our movement in the spirit of Old Saybrook 2. How can humanistic psychology actualize itself today to meet the needs of a fast-paced, distracted, survival-focused, experientially-avoidant, interpersonally isolated, rating- and metric-centered, systems-blind, toxically-masculine, xenophobic, inequitized, traumatized, polarized, technocratic, post-truth, post-pandemic society-in transition? 

Paradoxically, to accomplish that undertaking, Old Saybrook 3 also serves as a celebration of the wisdom of our elders and as a reminder not to turn a blind eye to  their rich and enriching intellectual and experiential contributions. As Mike Arons reflected about Old Saybrook 2, “The humanistic vision is the space we must always  return to as the starting point, this ultimately irreducible wholeness and diversity of human being.” Today, that sentiment shines through in a perennial thread that binds multiple generations and iterations of humanistic psychologists: What can we do to promote an I-Thou way of being in an increasingly I-it world? And with that, as humanistic themes continue to become embraced by mainstream psychology (albeit often in  fragmented and/or oversimplified form), what further unique contributions can we offer to  the field? How might they demonstrate that humanistic psychology is, far from being a mere historical relic, well-equipped in its core values and theory/philosophy, pluralistic methods, and robust, decades-long canon of research/scholarship to resonate with the 2020s zeitgeist? 

I invite you to submit proposals pertaining to theory, research, and/or practical application of emerging directions in humanistic psychology. As part of your proposal,  please give attention to how it both reflects and advances our core humanistic values and intellectual foundations.  

I look forward to being with you at
University of Michigan in Ann Arbor on March 28 - 30, 2024! 

Warmly,
Andrew Bland, PhD, LP
President (2023-24), Society for Humanistic Psychology