Journal of Space Counseling and Behavioral Health

The Journal of Space Counseling and Behavioral Health (JSCBH) is a peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary journal dedicated to advancing theory, research, and practice at the intersection of counseling, behavioral health, and human functioning in space and extreme environments.

The journal publishes scholarship that examines psychological, relational, and behavioral dimensions of spaceflight across the full mission lifecycle, including selection, training, in-flight adaptation, crisis response, reintegration, and long-duration habitation beyond Earth. Emphasis is placed on counseling-informed frameworks, preventive mental health models, systems-level risk mitigation, and translational research applicable to operational space settings.

Contributions are welcomed from counseling, psychology, psychiatry, human factors, aerospace medicine, safety science, systems engineering, ethics, and related disciplines, provided the work meaningfully engages behavioral health as a core component of mission success rather than an ancillary concern.

The Journal of Space Counseling and Behavioral Health serves as a scholarly home for work that recognizes behavioral health as mission-critical infrastructure in human spaceflight and extraterrestrial habitation.

The Journal of Space Counseling and Behavioral Health publishes peer-reviewed scholarship that advances understanding of counseling, behavioral health, and human psychological functioning in spaceflight and extreme operational environments.

The journal’s aim is to establish counseling-informed behavioral health as a mission-critical discipline within human space exploration, space habitation, and related high-risk, high-reliability systems. It provides a scholarly forum for theory development, empirical research, applied practice, and translational models that integrate psychological, relational, and systemic factors across the full space mission lifecycle.

The scope of the journal includes, but is not limited to:

• Counseling theory and practice applied to spaceflight and extreme environments
   
• Behavioral health as a latent failure condition and risk mitigation factor in crewed missions
   
• Psychological screening, selection, training, and readiness assessment
   
• In-flight adaptation, stress, isolation, confinement, and interpersonal dynamics
   
• Crisis response, trauma exposure, and psychological emergencies in space settings
   
• Reintegration, post-mission adjustment, and long-term psychological outcomes
   
• Human systems integration, safety science, and behavioral risk modeling
   
• Ethical, cultural, and relational considerations in space counseling contexts
   
• Technology-mediated counseling, AI-assisted support systems, and autonomous care models
   
• Translational research bridging counseling, aerospace medicine, human factors, and systems engineering
   

The journal welcomes quantitative, qualitative, mixed-methods, theoretical, conceptual, and practice-based manuscripts. Submissions must demonstrate scholarly rigor and clearly articulate implications for behavioral health in space or space-analog environments.

Submissions for the inaugural issue will open May 2026. A call for abstracts is located below.

Current calls for submissions can be found HERE.

Theme: Behavioral Health as Mission-Critical Infrastructure

The Journal of Space Counseling and Behavioral Health invites abstract submissions for consideration in its founding issue. This Call for Abstracts is intended to identify high-quality, mission-aligned manuscripts in advance of the full submission period.

Authors whose abstracts are accepted will be invited to submit full manuscripts when submissions open on May 1, 2026.

Abstracts should clearly align with the journal’s mission and the founding issue theme. Submissions are encouraged that conceptualize behavioral health and counseling as integral components of spaceflight operations, system reliability, and mission success.

Abstracts may address themes listed in the official call for papers below to open May 1, 2026.

Abstracts will undergo editorial review to assess:

• Alignment with the founding issue theme (Below)
• Scholarly merit and conceptual clarity
• Fit with the journal’s aims and scope
   

Accepted abstracts will receive an invitation to submit a full manuscript. Acceptance of an abstract does not guarantee acceptance of the full manuscript, which will undergo peer review.

• Abstract Submissions Open: Immediate
• Abstract Review Notifications: Rolling
• Full Manuscript Submissions Open: May 1, 2026
• Full Manuscripts Due: May 31, 2026
• Expected Publication: Late 2026
   

This Call for Abstracts is open to scholars, practitioners, and interdisciplinary teams working in counseling, psychology, behavioral health, human factors, aerospace medicine, ethics, and related fields. Early-career scholars and interdisciplinary collaborators are encouraged to submit.

Abstracts should be submitted through the journal’s online abstract submission form HERE.

 Submissions open May 2026

The Journal of Space Counseling and Behavioral Health invites submissions for its inaugural issue. The founding issue seeks to establish the journal’s intellectual foundation by centering behavioral health as an essential operational component of human spaceflight rather than a secondary or supportive service.

We welcome manuscripts that challenge traditional framings of mental health in space contexts and offer counseling-informed, systems-oriented perspectives on psychological risk, resilience, and mission success.

• Behavioral health in crewed space missions
   
• Counseling frameworks for long-duration and deep-space habitation
   
• Psychological risk modeling and human reliability in space systems
   
• Counselor roles within spaceflight operations, mission support, and crisis response
   
• Interpersonal dynamics, cohesion, and conflict in confined crews
   
• Ethical decision-making and relational strain in isolated environments
   
• Preventive counseling models and resilience-building interventions
   
• Translational applications of counseling theory to aerospace and safety science
   
• Lessons from space analogs including Antarctic stations, submarines, and HI-SEAS-type environments
   

• Original empirical research
   
• Theoretical and conceptual papers
   
• Applied practice and translational models
   
• Systematic or integrative reviews
   
• Brief reports and pilot studies
   

This journal emphasizes counseling-informed perspectives. Submissions rooted in psychology, medicine, engineering, or human factors are welcome when behavioral health and counseling relevance are clearly articulated.

Interdisciplinary collaboration is strongly encouraged.