title: International Society of Critical Health Psychology
text: # International Society of Critical Health Psychology
  
  The International Society of Critical Health Psychology (ISCHP) is a society devoted to debate about critical ideas within health psychology and developing new ways of health psychology practice. ISCHP's members commonly make use of qualitative methods and participatory research methods to address social, political and cultural issues within health psychology.
  
  ## Conferences
  
  The Society organizes a biennial conference. These conferences have been held in: St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada (1999); Birmingham, UK (2001); Auckland, New Zealand (2003); Sheffield, UK (2005); Boston, USA (2007); Lausanne, Switzerland (2009); Adelaide, Australia (2011); Bradford, UK (2013); Grahamstown, South Africa (2015); Loughborough, UK (2017); and Bratislava, Slovakia (2019). The most recent conference was held in late August 2021 in Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand. The next ISCHP biennial conference will be held at the Universidad de O’Higgins in Rancagua, Chile (see ischp2023.com) from 26–28 July 2023.
  
  ## Membership
  
  ISCHP welcomes membership from anyone who is aligned with its aims, regardless of disciplinary affiliation. There is no membership fee. Detail on how to join can be found at ischp.net/subscribe. ISCHP has an international membership from all fields of psychology and other disciplines. As of 2023 the society has approximately 1050 members in over 40 countries (see ischp.net).
  
  ## History
  
  In July 1999, the First International Conference on Critical and Qualitative Approaches to Health Psychology was held in St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada, organized by Michael Murray; over 120 critical health psychologists from 20 countries and every continent on the globe attended the conference. It was agreed that there was a need to establish a network to connect those in health psychology throughout the world who were interested in developing a more critical approach to the subject.
  
  In August 2001, the Second International Conference was held in Birmingham, UK. The International Society of Critical Health Psychology was established at this conference. The founding committee members included Kerry Chamberlain, Antonia Lyons, David Marks, Michael Murray and Christine Stephens.
  
  