Twelfth International Evolving British Object Relations Conference
Seattle, Washington (USA)
October 12-14, 2018
The Body as Psychoanalytic Object: Clinical Applications from Winnicott to Bion and Beyond
The EBOR conference will feature concurrent individual sessions of peer-reviewed full-length papers
(5,000 words maximum) reporting on original work related to the conference theme with ample time for discussion.
The Organizing Committee invites paper submissions of original and unpublished material related to the theme of the body as psychoanalytic object. For example, Winnicott's concept of "psyche/soma" and Bion's concept of "proto-mental" states of mind both address the enigmatic relationship between psychological and biological processes. We invite you to write about your understanding of somatic process and its relationship to psychic development as applied to the clinical situation. Somatic reverie (Civitarese), psychosomatic symptoms as a function of interrupted or obstructed dreaming (Ogden), nameless dread (Bion), symmetry/asymmetry (Matte-Blanco), and adhesive identification (Meltzer) are further examples of theories that address the territory of
the conference theme.
Instructions for submissions:
A paper proposal must be submitted
no later than January 31, 2018. Each author will receive a written response regarding your proposal by February 23, 2018. If accepted, the full paper must be submitted by
no later than
June 15, 2018.
Each proposal and full paper must be written in English and accompanied by a cover letter and presenter(s) CV.
The proposal must state the following:
a. name(s) and email address(es) of author(s)
b. title of the paper
c. abstract (500 words maximum)
The full paper must contain original, unpublished work and not be currently under consideration for presentation or publication elsewhere.
All co-authors must concur with the contents of the paper.
To guarantee a blind review of each paper using multiple reviewers, please avoid including the author's name in the body of the abstract and the paper.
Submitted abstracts are limited to a maximum of 500 words (not including the cover letter). These should state the paper's key arguments or ideas, its significance as a theoretical contribution and/or its clinical application, and identification of key influences such as major thinkers or previous writers on themes. Each submission will receive a written response.
Submitted papers are limited to a maximum of 5,000 words (not including the cover letter and references) with 1.5 line spacing in Word document format. Paper submissions will be evaluated on relevance to the conference theme, clarity, originality/innovativeness, significance, and contributions to theory and practice. Each submission will receive a written response including any recommended revisions by July 20. Authors will have until August 17 to revise and return their final paper.
In order for an accepted paper to be included in the conference, the author must agree to register, pay for and attend the conference, as well as personally present the paper.
Submission of proposals and full papers should be emailed to:
If you have questions regarding this, or any of our events, please contact our Administrator, Hollee Sweet, at [email protected] or by calling 206.930.2886.
