&ldquo\;Freedom is never abstract. It is lived in bodies\, relationships\, histories\, and situations.&rdquo\;
\nThe 7th European Conference for Existential Therapy brings together philosophers\, existential therapists\, psychotherapists\, counsellors\, psychologists\, psychiatrists\, researchers\, educators\, trainees\, and practitioners from related fields to explore \;freedom \;as a fundamental&mdash\;and often difficult&mdash\;dimension of human existence.
\nFreedom raises questions that are at once philosophical\, ethical\, psychological\, and clinical. What does it mean to be free when our possibilities are shaped by personal history\, embodiment\, relationships\, social institutions\, and circumstances beyond our control? How do choice and responsibility emerge within situations marked by uncertainty\, vulnerability\, suffering\, or loss? How can we recognize meaningful possibilities without overlooking the constraints that structure human lives?
\nFor existential therapy\, these questions are not merely theoretical. They arise in encounters with people struggling with anxiety\, guilt\, dependency\, isolation\, identity\, belonging\, and the demands of change. Therapeutic practice invites reflection on how individuals understand their circumstances\, relate to others\, and inhabit the possibilities available to them. It also requires careful attention to the ethical limits of appeals to freedom\, choice\, and personal responsibility.
\nThe conference provides a space in which philosophical inquiry and therapeutic reflection can inform one another. It invites dialogue across existential and phenomenological traditions\, different schools of existential therapy\, and neighbouring disciplines concerned with human experience.
\nOver two days in Bucharest\, participants will engage in plenary keynotes\, paper sessions\, clinical and experiential workshops\, panels\, and shared critical inquiry. The aim is to examine how existential perspectives can illuminate contemporary challenges while remaining attentive to the concrete conditions of individual and collective life.
\nPhilosophical and interdisciplinary scope
\nThe conference welcomes contributions that examine the conceptual foundations\, lived experience\, and practical implications of freedom.
\nOf particular interest are questions concerning the relationship between freedom and situatedness\; agency and constraint\; authenticity and self-deception\; selfhood and relationality\; responsibility and vulnerability\; and philosophical reflection and therapeutic practice.
\nContributions may engage existential philosophy\, phenomenology\, ethics\, philosophy of psychology\, philosophy of psychiatry\, and related fields. We also welcome clinical\, empirical\, and practice-based perspectives that bring these questions into dialogue with therapeutic encounters\, mental health\, education\, and contemporary social life.
\nThe conference seeks a critically engaged exchange between scholars and practitioners\, across Europe and beyond\, rather than adherence to a single philosophical or therapeutic approach.
\nConference themes
\nContributions may address\, but are not limited to\, the following thematic areas:
\n1. Freedom\, choice\, and responsibility
\nAgency\, decision-making\, ambivalence\, guilt\, accountability\, authenticity\, self-deception\, courage\, and the anxiety of freedom.
\nHow should we understand the relationship between freedom and responsibility? What happens when possibilities become sources of anxiety rather than empowerment? How do existential perspectives illuminate difficult decisions\, competing commitments\, and the limits of self-understanding?
\n2. Freedom under conditions of constraint
\nTrauma\, grief\, illness\, disability\, poverty\, discrimination\, coercion\, institutionalisation\, migration\, violence\, and war.
\nHow can freedom be understood without denying the material\, social\, historical\, and psychological conditions that limit it? What forms of agency remain possible under adverse circumstances? How can therapeutic practice acknowledge constraint without reducing individuals to their circumstances?
\n3. Freedom in the therapeutic encounter
\nTherapeutic relationships\, dialogue\, presence\, power\, dependency\, boundaries\, resistance\, change\, and the ethics of practice.
\nHow is freedom expressed\, supported\, or challenged within the therapeutic relationship? What responsibilities follow from the asymmetries of power and expertise in therapy? How can practitioners facilitate change while respecting uncertainty\, ambivalence\, and the client&rsquo\;s own understanding of their life?
\n4. Embodiment\, identity\, and becoming
\nThe body\, sexuality\, gender\, ageing\, neurodiversity\, identity\, selfhood\, transformation\, and the limits of self-authorship.
\nHow do embodied experience and social recognition shape possibilities for being and becoming? How do identities constrain or enable freedom? What can existential and phenomenological approaches contribute to understanding change\, continuity\, and the tension between self-definition and circumstances?
\n5. Freedom in a changing world
\nClimate anxiety\, ecological responsibility\, digital life\, social media\, artificial intelligence\, automation\, surveillance\, loneliness\, and contemporary alienation.
\nHow are contemporary technologies and social transformations changing experiences of agency\, connection\, and responsibility? What does freedom mean in contexts shaped by ecological uncertainty\, digital mediation\, and new forms of dependence or exclusion?
\n6. Existential therapy in dialogue with other disciplines
\nPhenomenology\, existential philosophy\, psychiatry\, psychology\, neuroscience\, ethics\, education\, and spirituality.
\nHow can different disciplines contribute to understanding human freedom without losing sight of lived experience? What are the possibilities and limits of interdisciplinary explanation? How can philosophical and therapeutic perspectives critically engage scientific\, educational\, and spiritual approaches to human life?
\nKeynote speakers
\nFurther speakers
\nCall for contributions
\nWe welcome proposals from philosophers\, existential therapists\, counsellors\, psychotherapists\, psychologists\, psychiatrists\, researchers\, educators\, trainees\, and practitioners from related fields.
\nContributions may be philosophical\, theoretical\, clinical\, empirical\, or practice-based. We particularly welcome proposals that connect conceptual inquiry with lived experience\, therapeutic practice\, or the ethical and social challenges of contemporary life.
\nThe following formats are invited:
\nFor submission instructions and updates\, please consult the conference website. Questions regarding contributions may be addressed to the conference contact email below.
\nImportant dates
\nVenue and practical information
\nThe conference will take place at Phoenicia Grand Hotel\, Bulevardul Alexandru Șerbănescu 87\, Bucharest 014281\, Romania.
\nInformation about registration categories\, fees\, accommodation\, and practical arrangements is available on the conference website. Further programme and participation updates will be published there.
\nWebsite and contact
\nConference website: \;https://www.existentialfreedom.eu/
\nEnquiries: contact@existentialfreedom.eu
ORGANIZER;CN=Daniela Nica;CN="Laurenţiu Staicu";CN=Laurentiu Gheorghe: METHOD:PUBLISH END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR