Candidate / Student Essay Award Contest

This annual contest is open to all psychoanalytic candidates and
graduate level students  from any discipline writing on psychoanalytic topics. 

For 2025:

Contest applicants must be current candidates or graduate students as of April 2025.  Essays need to be written in English, should be no longer than 7500 words, need to be fully referenced using the APA style, and must be submitted by August 15, 2025, without exception.  Only essays which have not been published or submitted for publication will be accepted.

The winner of the contest will be announced this coming fall at the International Association of Psychoanalytic Self Psychology Conference in Pasadena, California, October 16-19.   The winner will receive a plaque, consideration for publication of their essay in Psychoanalysis, Self and Context, and an honorarium of $500.00.

Candidates/students interested in entering the contest for the year 2025 must submit essays to cwmayhew@gmail.com by midnight PDT, August 15 2025.  Please include as a separate document a cover letter that specifies the title of the essay, the author’s name and the author’s contact information.  Please do not put the author’s name on the essay. 

Questions may be directed to the chair of the program, Carol Mayhew, Ph.D., at cwmayhew@gmail.com.