Relationships and Mental Health, PHaR/BNPMH 2026 conference, Birmingham, May 12th

We are excited to announce a collaborative, one-day conference event, in Birmingham UK, co-hosted by the Phenomenology of Health and Relationships (PHaR) group at Aston University and the Birmingham Network for Phenomenology and Mental Health group at University of Birmingham.

Relationships and Mental Health
The Exchange, Birmingham
Tuesday 12th May, 2026

Submissions

We would like to invite proposals at this time and welcome proposals for papers, symposia, discussions, workshops or other academic activities which draw upon phenomenological concepts or experiential methods, and which engage with mental health and relationships, or the process of understanding their experience and meaning.

As always, we are interested to hear about works-in-progress and to host discussions about methodological and conceptual innovations, dilemmas and challenges. Contributions can include conceptual, methodological or applied work. We look forward to hosting speakers from a variety of backgrounds including philosophy, psychology, social science, lived experience, and healthcare. Submissions from early career researchers are welcome.

Proposals should be submitted by email to phar-aston@outlook.com by Friday 20th March 2026. Decisions will be announced by the end of March.

We do not propose to have a poster session. We are keen to support creative approaches to presentation, engagement and discussion. If you have an idea for a format which is unusual, or which may require a specific configuration of space, please contact us to discuss it, on the email address above. If you’re searching for inspiration, the Liberating Structures website (click on the boxes at www.liberatingstructures.com/ls/ to explore) has lots of interesting ideas.

Format for individual submissions

Please write ‘2026 Submission’ in the subject header of your email.

Please attach a Word document containing an abstract and title for your proposed contribution, and your preferred format.

Please email it to phar-aston@outlook.com by Friday 20th March 2026.

Registration

An Eventbrite link for registration will be available very soon.

Please note that this conference will be in-person only and no travel or accommodation bursaries are available. The registration cost will be kept as low as possible and will be announced imminently.

Accommodation

Conference registration will not include accommodation, but we will circulate details of convenient accommodation, with the Eventbrite link.

Further details

We will post updates on the following platforms

Bluesky: @ipanalysis

Email list: ipaqualitative@groups.io

Blogger: http://astonphar.blogspot.com/

Padlet: https://padlet.com/juliekane3/phar-uvbc6o5uoyifbftm

Enquiries

Please email phar-aston@outlook.com