Call for Submissions

The Society for the Exploration of Psychotherapy Integration (SEPI) invites submissions for the 41st Annual Conference to be held in Istanbul, Turkey from Friday, October 10 through Sunday, October 12, 2025. The conference site will be the Radisson Blu Şişli, 19 Mayıs, 19 Mayıs Cd. Street No 2, 34360 Şişli/İstanbul, Türkiye. Sleeping rooms are 175€ for a single room.

SEPI is an international, interdisciplinary organization of practitioners and scholars exploring the benefits of integrating ideas from multiple perspectives and promoting alternative ways of meeting the needs of our clients. SEPI also advances the integration of practice and research.

Conference Theme: Integrative Foundations of Psychotherapy

The idea behind this conference is to bring together young and old, researchers, teachers, and clinicians from East and West to rejoice and share how far we have come in understanding what is foundational to all therapies. It’s been a long journey. We have found how difficult it is to combine existing theories without compromising the richness of each one. We have explored common factors, especially around the therapeutic relationship, that correlate with success. We have built unifying frameworks that encompass and organize the many areas relevant to our work. Last year we hosted a summit of leaders sharing their views of the state of our art. Today we of the conference committee believe the time is ripe to create a forum bringing together what we have learned about how foundational elements work together and separately to support healing and growth. Our goals are for presenters to gain from sharing their latest ideas and work, for participants to come away with new understanding of the processes unfolding before them, and for all to enjoy common bonds in an unforgettable setting with its own long history as a center of support for psychotherapy integration.

The Committee will be looking especially for submissions that further our collective understanding of how all therapies work. We expect a variety of interpretations of the theme as well as submissions that will add to the experience of a diverse group, united in our dedication to providing excellence in psychotherapy.

Program Format

We encourage the participation of practitioners and scholars from all psychotherapy traditions and disciplines in our 2025 conference program. The program will consist of panels, structured discussions, mini-workshops, individual papers, and posters. There also will be plenary panels and the SEPI president’s address.

• SEPI is particularly devoted to facilitating dialogue among participants. As such, all presentations as usual allocate ample time for audience participation and discussion. Consideration of this will be important to all submissions.
• We encourage the use of modern pedagogical principles emphasizing videotaped clinical material, verbatim transcriptions, demonstrations, case presentations, or other methods that ground the dialogue, clarify practical considerations, and demonstrate clinical application. Please be sure to secure the informed consent needed to present any sensitive material ethically. Again, we want to ensure that anything that is posted online protects the confidentiality of anyone concerned.

Types of Presentations

• PANELS/SYMPOSIA (75 minutes)
• A panel/symposium is a formal presentation that ideally includes three (3) presenters and one (1) discussant, leaving time for audience participation. Each panel will/must have a moderator who will introduce the presenters and topics, monitor time allotments, and guide audience participation.
• STRUCTURED DISCUSSIONS (75 minutes)
• Please note that the moderator of a discussion group is responsible for confirming at least two other individuals’ participation and for organizing all aspects of the presentation. Film, videotape, music, artwork, or other forms of media can also be used to stimulate discussion.
• MINI-WORKSHOPS (75 minutes)
• Mini-workshops are designed primarily for practitioner audiences and focus on skill development or experiential involvement. Preference will be given to workshops that include multiple presenters. A workshop “summary sheet” (overview of the topic) and handouts (if applicable) should be available to participants. A pointed focus is desirable due to the short nature of these workshops. Only a limited number of mini-workshops will be possible during the conference. Due to the fact that mini-workshops are the most competitive format, and the vast majority will not be accepted, we therefore strongly encourage anyone submitting a mini workshop to consider submitting other types of presentations as well.
• INDIVIDUAL PAPERS (15 minutes)
• This category includes research, theoretical, and clinical papers that are not part of a panel/symposium. The program committee will form accepted papers into panels. However, we strongly recommend that instead of submitting individual papers, you try to create a panel yourself by seeking out other people doing similar work and recruiting a discussant. The likelihood of acceptance is higher for panels than for individual papers. For this purpose, you are encouraged to use the SEPI listserv or Facebook.
• POSTERS
• Posters are graphic representations of the results of studies or tools to help in decision-making. Interested attendees have one-on-one discussions with the presenter whose work is displayed. Poster dimensions should approximate 91 x 122 cm (or 36 x 48 inches). Many attendees appreciate receiving a handout that summarizes a poster’s findings.

Limits on First Authorships

There is a limit of two first-author presentations at the conference. A total number of presentations including other forms of participation, such as discussant, moderator, or second authorship, should not exceed five. All presenters will be subject to the usual registration fee for the conference.

Deadline for Submissions

The submission deadline will be March 1, 2025. You will be submitting online through the SEPI Conference submission portal.

The program committee will send notices of acceptance and a preliminary schedule for the program by 16 March 2025. This should allow you to make travel plans if needed in time. Please note, as always, SEPI members will receive a discounted rate on the conference registration fee.

CONTINUING EDUCATION AND ATTENDANCE

Certificates of attendance will be provided to all attendees and will be downloaded after the conclusion of the conference from our conference website. Continuing Education for psychologists will be provided by an APA-approved CE Sponsor. Only those who pre-register for CE and who pay the CE fee will be provided Continuing Education credits and certificates.

CONFERENCE LANGUAGE

Please note that presentations must be given in English. Please rest assured that perfect English is NOT a requirement; however, presentations must be understandable to English speakers.

REVIEW CRITERIA

All submissions are rated for rigor (scientific, clinical or theoretical), scope of coverage, relevance to psychotherapy integration, and consistency with the meeting theme. Mini-workshops are additionally rated for presenter qualifications and usefulness of the training objectives. Proposals must be sufficiently detailed to allow evaluation of these criteria.

TRAVEL AWARDS

Student travel stipends

Six student stipends not to exceed $500 each are available to defray costs for students who are presenting at the conference in person. To qualify for a stipend, students must be the first author, present a paper/poster in person during the Istanbul conference, and must be SEPI members. Please send e-mail to faika.yapici@burkon.com by writing "I want to apply Student Travel Stipends /with your name" at the same time of poster and individual abstracts submissions.

Paul L. Wachtel Travel Grants

Up to two travel grants not to exceed $1000 each are available to support travel to the conference by SEPI members and SEPI fellows. Travel grants will only be given to those who are attending the conference in person, and in real time. Please note that SEPI student members are not eligible for these grants. To apply, please go to the awards section of the SEPI website: https://www.sepiweb.org/page/wachtel_award.

For conference program questions, contact the program chair, Dr. Jeffery Smith, jsmd@howtherapyworks.com . The Local Organizing Committee can be reached at through Dr. Ozakkas at ozakkas@psikoterapi.com.