The conference theme for the 43rd Annual International SPR meeting in Virginia Beach is "Change mechanisms in psychotherapy: State of the art, state of the science, and a bridge between them". The program committee is eager to solicit proposals on the current state of knowledge and research on change mechanisms and effective ingredients in psychotherapy.  By focusing on state of the art and state of the science, we hope to encourage presentations, panels, and discussion sessions that address the current state of knowledge on change mechanisms from both clinical and empirical perspectives. We strongly encourage submissions that address what is known clinically about change mechanisms and how some of that clinical knowledge could find its way into therapy research and how some of the research findings on change mechanisms can be translated to clinical practice.

In addition to the specific conference theme, the program committee invites submissions on all areas of psychotherapy research, practice, and training. We welcome the full range of contributions to the field of psychotherapy, including reports of innovative research methods, empirical studies of varied treatment modalities (individual, couple, family, group, and milieu therapies), diverse patient populations and diagnostic categories, as well as a broad spectrum of theoretical approaches (e.g., CBT, existential-humanistic, interpersonal,  psychodynamic, systemic, etc.).  As in all previous SPR conferences, we invite qualitative as well as quantitative studies, single case research, process and outcome studies, meta-analyses, methodological contributions, research on psychotherapy measures, literature reviews and so forth.

There are 5 categories or types of presentation for the 2012 Conference: Panels, Brief Papers, Structured Discussions, Posters, and Pre-Conference Workshops.

Panels

• Panels should include three to four presentations focused on a common theme or various facets of a large-scale research project.  Panels with international representation are encouraged whenever possible.
• Panels will be 90 minutes with a minimum of 15 minutes for open discussion.
• Each panel should have a moderator (normally the organizer of the panel or another relevant person).
• Panels with two or three papers are expected to have a prepared discussant. We encourage the inclusion of panel discussants that can provide a distinctive research and/or clinical perspective on the panel presentations.

Brief Papers

• Brief papers are 8-10 minute reports about ongoing or completed studies.
• Brief paper sessions will be 90 minutes and will consist of five to six short communications, with 5 minutes for discussion allotted to each presentation.
• The Program Committee will designate moderators for the sessions.  If it proves difficult to schedule all submissions of brief papers, the program committee may request that the work be presented as a poster.

Structured Discussions

• These are meant to provide an opportunity for a group of colleagues to discuss a specific topic in psychotherapy research (e.g., specific methods, theories, new developments, disorders, etc.).
• A number of persons should be named who agree to lead the discussion.
• Sessions should be structured by having each designated discussant give a position statement (of maximally 5 minutes) on the theme to elicit active participation from audience members.

Posters
Posters are appropriate for the full range of research reports, including completed projects, single case studies, pilot studies, and work-in-progress. They provide a good opportunity for detailed discussion with interested colleagues. We will try to group the posters by topic to stimulate discussion and exchange of ideas.  Poster dimensions should approximate 32" x 40" (80cm x 100cm) portrait. Please keep in mind that many attendees will appreciate receiving a handout summarizing your research findings.

Pre-Conference Workshops
Workshops will be held on the afternoon prior to the evening session that opens the conference (i.e., Wednesday afternoon). Two types of pre-conference workshops are encouraged. The first is intended to provide training in specific areas of psychotherapy research, methods, or data analysis.   The second type of workshop entails the clinical presentation of an assessment or treatment method that is followed by discussion on how best to empirically study or validate the clinical procedures described. Submissions should indicate the amount of time desired for the workshop (either 2 or 3 hours).

Submission Policies and Guidelines

The official conference language will be English; all submissions should be made in English.

First authorship by an individual is limited to one presentation on a Panel or Brief Paper session and two presentations in the Poster format.  However, please note that one person can be listed as a coauthor on multiple presentations as long as different people present them. There is no limitation on chairing panels.

In order to ensure a broad range of participation on panels and in discussion sessions, each attendee may serve as a discussant on a maximum of two panels and/or participate in a maximum of two open discussions.

Program submissions will be accepted via the web (online), beginning November 1, 2011.  The deadline for submissions is December 1, 2011.  Notification of acceptance will be emailed mid-February 2012. 

All abstracts are limited to 250 words.  For Panels, Structured Discussions, and Pre-Conference Workshops, the moderator/organizer should provide an overview of the session as a whole.  Brief Papers, Papers in a Panel, and Posters should be structured using the following headings: Aim, Methods, Results, Discussion. 

Here is an example of a Panel submission.  Abstracts will be published on the SPR 2012 Virginia Beach website and hardcopies will be available for purchase at the time of registration and at the conference. 

Finally, if you have an idea for a panel or other collaboration, please consider using the SPR mailing list list@psychotherapyresearch.org to find colleagues with similar interests. It is our experience that in most cases, well-integrated panels with authors from different research groups have the largest attendance. 

If you have any questions, requests, ideas or suggestions for the conference and its scientific program, please send an email to George Silberschatz at  program.spr2012@yahoo.com.

Dates to Remember

• Online submissions will be open from November 1 to December 1, 2011.
• Notifications of acceptance will be emailed in mid-February 2012.
• Online revision period:  Presenters will be able to modify their abstracts between March 1 and April 1, 2012.