Conference Overview

The Polish Society for the Psychology of Religion and Spirituality (PSPRS, Pol. PTPRiD – Polskie Towarzystwo Psychologii Religii i Duchowości), together with the Jesuit University Ignatianum in Krakow, cordially invites you to participate in the 7th International Conference of the PSPRS, titled Spirituality and/or Religiousness – A Remedy for Existential Emptiness and Health or a Modern Excess?, which will be held in Krakow on September 24–26, 2026.

The conference will provide a space for reflection on the role of religiosity and spirituality in contemporary life – both as potential sources of mental health, community, and resilience, and as phenomena subject to transformation, contestation, and reinterpretation in the dynamic realities of the 21st century. Special attention will be given to issues inspired by clinical psychology, psychiatry, cross-cultural and indigenous psychology, which enable an in-depth analysis of spiritual responses of individuals and communities to trauma, and which contribute to a broader debate on health, resilience, and spirituality in today’s world.

The core of the program will consist of on-site sessions in Krakow, including keynote lectures, parallel thematic sessions with 15-minute individual presentations, and poster sessions. The program will also include pre-conference workshops, as well as a virtual session to enable online participation. The primary language of the conference will be English, although a block of sessions in Polish is also planned.

Proposed thematic areas include the relationship between religion and spirituality in the social context, religion, spirituality and health, mental health and religion, the psychology of spirituality, mindfulness and gratitude in a world of chaos, multiculturalism and migration, religious fundamentalism and prejudice, religion and spirituality in psychotherapy, contemporary phenomena of new spirituality, religious education, the brain and behavior in a spiritual context, and religion and spirituality in the workplace.