Associations & Conferences

Professional associations and conferences offer high quality products and services regarding cognitive behavior therapy. Some of our favorites are listed below. We have posted dates of upcoming conferences and have some archival information about past conferences.

Please check each Association’s links for updated information.
Depending on World events, meetings may be virtual only or possibly cancelled.

  • Supporting Professionals, Educating Consumers, and Connecting Individuals with Truly Effective Care
  • Excellent resources for clinicians and the public
  • Best Resource for “How to Find a Certified Therapist”
  • Offers certification of cognitive therapists
  • A-CBT certification indicates to consumers, potential employers, and other clinicians that the individual is a skilled cognitive therapist.
  • Access to the A-CBT Member Listserv which provides a forum for dialogue among A-CBT members worldwide

ABCT offers one of the best conferences in the USA for cognitive therapists. Their excellent annual conference is held the third week of every November. Membership includes: the Behavior Therapist newsletter, ABCT’s List Serve, free access to ABCT journals online.

58th Annual Convention
2024 November 14-17 / Philadelphia, PA USA
THEME: Inspiring Community Engagement, Advocacy, and Innovation to Advance CBT

Convention website
https://www.abct.org/2024-convention/

  • Invaluable CT resource for Cognitive Therapists worldwide
  • Excellent organization and website full of information
  • Listserv and journal with membership
  • BABCP’s Annual Conference is one of the best CBT training conferences in the world

The 52nd BABCP Annual Conference of the British Association for Behaviour and Cognitive Psychotherapies will be held at the University of Manchester from 23-26 July 2024.

https://babcp2024.org/

Excerpt from: visitManchester

Manchester has been named as one of 25 global destinations to be included in the Where to Go 2024 list by prestigious US travel publication AFAR, has been named in the New York Times’ 52 Places to Go list for 2024 and is the only UK city in National Geographic’s influential ‘Best of the World’ list which annually sets out 25 of the must-see places to visit around the globe.

Formerly known as the International Association for
Cognitive Psychotherapy (IACP}

MISSION STATEMENT: Connecting international CBT researchers, providers, and communities to ensure that global modern integrative CBT is innovative, personal, charitable, and accessible.

NOW OFFERING FREE MEMBERSHIPS TO CURRENT STUDENTS.

Membership benefits vary depending on membership category but can include: Subscription to the International Journal of Cognitive Therapy / Quarterly newsletter / Triennial international conferences / Optional online Directory listing / Additional benefits

11th IACBT Conference
August 14-17, 2025
Nashville, Tennessee, USA
THEME: CBT as a Tool for Recovery

Join your colleagues at the first North American site of these great conferences. Aaron Brinen, PsyD | 2025 Conference Chair. Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Division of Psychology, Vanderbilt Psychiatric Hospital

Conference Website: https://iacbtnashville.com/
Sign up for UPDATES HERE

The The European Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Therapies is an organization consisting of 53 full member and 8 affiliate associations from 45 different countries with over 25,000 individual clinicians and researchers in its membership making it one of the largest psychotherapy organizations in the world. It is dedicated to the “empirically based principles and practice of behavioural and cognitive therapy approaches in health, social, education and related fields.”

EABCT’s Annual Congress presents an excellent opportunity
to travel and learn!

The European Association of Behavior is pleased to host the 54th Annual Congress of the European Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Therapies in Belgrade, SERBIA

Theme: “New Age of CBT – Challenges and Perspectives”

4-7 September 2024 / Antalya, TURKEY
VENUE: The Sava Centre, Milentija Popovic 9, 11070 Belgrade, Serbia
Conference Website: https://eabct2024.org/

WCBCT is home to the World Congress Committee (WCC). The WCC was established by mutual agreement of seven organizations and has the primary function of selecting organizations to host World Congresses of Cognitive and Behaviour Therapy.

A World Congress event is held once every three years.

FUTURE CONGRESS DETAILS
TO BE ANNOUNCED

PAST CONGRESS 2023

The 10th World Congress of Cognitive and Behavioral Therapies was held 1-4 June 2023 in Seoul, South Korea at the Coex Convention Center. The THEME was East Meet West – Embracing Diversity and Improving Access to CBT

The Official Congress website is https://www.wccbt2023.org

The Korean Association of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (KABCT) is one of the leading multidisciplinary associations in the Asian Pacific region and is committed to hosting this international meeting with the most updated and sound science for cognitive and behavioral therapies.

  • Non-profit organization (circa 1994) as an outgrowth of Dr. Aaron T. Beck’s original Center for Cognitive Therapy at the University of Pennsylvania
  • International training and resource center
  • Provides clinical mental health services and consultations
  • Promotes research
  • Loaded with CBT information for the public and professionals

HISTORICAL NOTE: Festschrift for Dr. Aaron T. Beck, MD, founder of Cognitive Therapy November 15, 2001 at the annual meeting of the American Association for Advancement of Behavior Therapy to honor the life and work of Aaron T. Beck, M.D.

The speeches from that day were previously published on the Beck Institute website. However, they can now be found in the book: Contemporary Cognitive Therapy: Theory, Research, and Practice (2004). Edited by Robert L. Leahy. Guilford Press. Old link was: http://beckinstitute.org/Library/InfoManage/Guide.asp?FolderID=174&SessionID={60619957-CCBA-4C84-9EA1-606A10D519CB}

– Archival Information: Special Festschrift for Dr. Beck

At Beck’s 2001 Festschrift, Dr. Christine Padesky offered her personal commentaries based on observations of Beck since 1978. To read a summary of her comments, visit our Clinical Corner Publications (Print) section. The following link directs you to the Article titled: Mind, Man, and Mentor: an overview of Beck’s career to date in three broad areas. If you have trouble locating the article, click on the Beck link in the top menu. 

ARCHIVAL INFORMATION

Association for Behavioral & Cognitive Therapies (ABCT)

International Association of Cognitive Psychotherapy (IACBT formerly IACP)

European Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Therapies (EABCT)

World Confederation of Cognitive and Behavioural Therapies (WCCBT)

  • Founded January 7, 2019. Officially launched at the 9th World Congress of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies in Berlin, Germany.
  • 2023: Seoul, KOREA (1-4 June, Coex Convention Center) / view a very nice photo gallery on their website https://www.wccbt2023.org/

World Congress of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (WCBCT) now known as the  World Congress of Cognitive and Behavioral Therapies (WCCBT)

Previous Locations.

  • 10th: Seoul, KOREA 2023 (1-4 June, Coex Convention Center) / view a very nice photo gallery on their website https://www.wccbt2023.org/
  • 9th: Berlin, GERMANY 2019 (17-20 July, City Cube)
    Theme: Cognitive and Behavioural Therapies at the Crossroads. A report of the proceedings iincludes interviews with experts and summaries of symposia. CLICK HERE to read the report. 
  • 8th: Melbourne, AUSTRALIA 2016
  • 7th: Lima, PERU 2013
  • 6th: Boston, USA 2010
  • 5th: Barcelona, SPAIN 2007
  • 4th: Kobe, JAPAN 2004
  • 3rd: Vancouver, CANADA 2001
  • 2nd: Acapulco, MEXICO 1998
  • 1st: Copenhagen, DENMARK 1995
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