[SydPhil] [DEADLINE EXTENDED - WORKSHOP] Narrative Practices in Mental Health Mon 15 – Tue 16 December 2025 University of Wollongong, Australia (Main Campus), Bldg 20, Room 5

[Benedetta Cogo]

Narrative Practices in Mental Health

Mon 15 – Tue 16 December 2025
University of Wollongong, Australia (Main Campus), Bldg 20, Room 5

This two-day conference examines the potential risks and rewards of using narrative practices in mental health contexts. It will reflect on the various forms narrative practices can take and the different roles they can play in enhancing or diminishing psychological well-being, including their use in addressing serious conditions (for example, alleviating depression; aiding addiction recovery). It will consider how they operate in both clinical settings and as-yet unregulated contexts, such as individuals conversing with LLMs for therapeutic ends. It will investigate whether and to what extent narrative practices can meet explanatory, scope, and ethical challenges related to their responsible use.

Keynote Speakers:
Shaun Gallagher (University of Memphis)
Şerife Tekin (SUNY Upstate Medical University)

Plenary Speakers:
Benedetta Cogo (University of Wollongong)
Emily Hughes (Macquarie University)
Daniel D. Hutto (University of Wollongong)
Douglas McConnell (Macquarie University)
Richard Menary (Macquarie University)
Lorna Moxham (University of Wollongong)
Dominic Murphy (University of Sydney)

This event will be of interest to mental health researchers and practitioners, philosophers of psychiatry, clinicians, psychologists, service designers, and policymakers.

This is an in-person event. The schedule is available at this link<https://events.uow.edu.au/narrativepractices/10199592>.

The conference is free and open to all, but participants are asked to make their own arrangements for lunch and refreshments.

Please note that the deadline for registration has been extended. Advance registration<https://events.uow.edu.au/narrativepractices/begin> is required no later than 12 December 2025 (AEST).

Please contact Lorena Sganzerla lsganzerla at uow.edu.au or Benedetta Cogo bc845 at uowmail.edu.au if you have queries.

This conference is generously funded by an internal research grant from the University of Wollongong (UOW) and it is hosted by the School of Liberal Arts.

Daniel D. Hutto, BA, MPhil, DPhil
Senior Professor of Philosophical Psychology
Head of the School of Liberal Arts
Faculty of Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities
Room 1102, UOW Building 19 Arts<https://www.google.com/maps/place/UOW+Building+19+Arts/@-34.4088614,150.8781783,16.3z/data=!4m13!1m7!3m6!1s0x6b13197232938a75:0x24be8d98bdb26a86!2s19+Northfields+Ave,+Keiraville+NSW+2500!3b1!8m2!3d-34.4081275!4d150.8791751!3m4!1s0x6b131971eff74e03:0xff687cc5fdbb57ae!8m2!3d-34.4059348!4d150.8776072>, Northfields Avenue
University of Wollongong NSW 2522 Australia
T +61 2 4221 3987 | uow.edu.au<http://www.uow.edu.au/> | Facebook<https://www.facebook.com/daniel.d.hutto> | Twitter<https://twitter.com/phlqddh> | LinkedIn<http://au.linkedin.com/pub/daniel-d-hutto/25/680/374> | Academia<https://uow.academia.edu/DanielDHutto> | Staff Profile and Publications<http://www.uow.edu.au/~ddhutto/profile/hutto.html>