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.
59th Annual Convention
2025 November 20-23 / New Orleans, LA, USA. Convention will be hosted at the Hyatt Regency in New Orleans, LA
THEME
Bridging the Divide: Promoting Rigorous Science and Inclusive Affirming Therapies
Convention website
https://www.abct.org/2025-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
For 2025, the BABCP Annual Conference of the British Association for Behaviour and Cognitive Psychotherapies has been combined with the 2025 EABCT Congress.
Hosted by BABCP. For details, see the EABCT section of this webpage.
Formerly known as the International Association of
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 ConferenceAugust 14-17, 2025Nashville, Tennessee, USATHEME: 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 55th Annual Congress of the European Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Therapies
Theme: “People Make Glasgow: Connections Drive Change”
3-6 September 2025 / Glasgow, SCOTLAND
VENUE: The Scottish Event Campus, Glasgow, Scotland, G3 8YW
Conference Website: https://eabct2025.org/
The World Confederation of Cognitive and Behavioural Therapies (WCCBT) is a global multidisciplinary organization dedicated to the promotion of health and well-being through the scientific development and implementation of evidence-based cognitive behavioral strategies designed to evaluate, prevent, and treat mental conditions and illnesses.
The WCCBT was founded on January 7th 2019 by the six founding member associations (AACBT, ABCT, ABCTA, ALAMOC, EABCT, and IACP), who were previously members of the World Congress Committee (WCC)
The World Confederation of Cognitive and Behavioural Therapies (WCCBT) 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.
11th World Confederation Congress 2026
25-28 June in San Francisco, CALIFORNIA
11th World Confederation of Cognitive and Behavioral Therapies Congress
DATE: 25-28 June 2026
LOCATION: San Francisco, California – Marriott Marquis Hotel
THEME: Health for All: Affirming, Equitable, and Sustainable CBT.
This theme emphasizes WCCBT’s aim to promote mental and physical health for individuals worldwide through cognitive behavioral approaches:
- that affirm personal agency, resilience, and identities;
- meet individual needs while also reducing health disparities at the population level;
- are sustainable in their intended settings.
CONGRESS WEBSITE: address pending. Scientific Program information available here: https://wccbt.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/cfp-2026-world-congress-v1.pdf
- 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)
- 59th Annual Convention 20-23 November 2025 / New Orleans, LA / Theme: Bridging the Divide: Promoting Rigorous Science and Inclusive Affirming Therapies. Convention website: https://www.abct.org/2025-convention/
- 58th Annual Convention 14-17 November 2024 / Philadelphia, PA / THEME: Inspiring Community Engagement, Advocacy, and Innovation to Advance CBT. Convention website: https://www.abct.org/2024-convention/
- 57th Annual Convention 16-19 November, 2023 / Seattle, Washington, USA / Theme Cultivating Joy with CBT
- 56th Annual Convention: 2022 November 17-20 / New York City, New York, USA / Theme: Emergency & Disaster Preparedness and Response: Using Cognitive and Behavioral Science to Make an Impact
- 55th Annual Convention: 2021 VIRTUAL CONVENTION / 2021 November 18-21 / Theme: Promoting Cognitive and Behavioral Practice and Science in the Context of Public Health, Social Justice, Policy, Research, Practice, and Training
- 54th Annual Convention: 2020, November 19-22 / Virtual Conference / Theme: Better Access, Better Outcomes: Enhancing the Impact of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies
- 53rd Annual Convention: 2019, November 21-24 / Atlanta, Georgia / Theme: Wisdom of Purpose and Perspective, Extending the Social Impact of Cognitive Behavioral Science
- 52nd Annual Convention: 2018, November 15-28 / Washington, DC / Theme: Cognitive Behavioral Science, Treatment, and Technology
- 51st Annual Convention: 2017, November 16-19 / San Diego CALIFORNIA / Theme: Applying CBT in Diverse Contexts
- 50th Annual Convention: 2016, October 27-30 / New York NEW YORK / Theme: HONORING the Past / ENVISIONING the Future
- 49th Annual Convention: 2015 November 12-15 / Chicago ILLINOIS / Theme: Improving Dissemination by Promoting Empirically Supported Principles of Psychopathology and Change
- 48th Annual Convention: 2014 November 20-23 / Philadelphia PENNSYLVANIA / Theme: Enhancing CBT by Drawing Strength From Multiple Disciplines
International Association of Cognitive Psychotherapy (IACBT formerly IACP)
- 2017 ICCP / 9th International Congress of Cognitive Psychotherapy: Toward Integrative CBT; Implications for Science and Practice. Held from 29 June – 1 July 2017 in Cluj-Napoca,Transylvania, ROMANIA. 550 participants from 42 countries
- Coming in the future: Archival Info for IACP 2000 (worldwide_2000.htm#ARCHIVAL INFORMATION)
European Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Therapies (EABCT)
- 2025: Glasgow, SCOTLAND / September 3-6 / People Make Glasgow: Connections Drive Change
- 2024: Belgrade, SERBIA / September 4-7 / New Age of CBT – Challenges and perspectives
- 2023: Antalya, TURKEY / October 4-7 / CBT in a Changing World: Migration and Cultural Diversity
- 2022: Barcelona, SPAIN / September 7-10 / Re-Thinking CBT: Providing Strategies for a New Way of Living
- 2021: Belfast, NORTHEN IRELAND / September 8-11 / CBT: Back to the Future
- 2020: Cyberspace / September 2-5, 2020 / Adapting CBT to Socially and Culturally Diverse Environments
- 2019: the World Congress in Berlin replaces their conference for 2019
- 2018 Sofia, BULGARIA / September 5-8, 2018 / 48th Annual Congress / Beck greeting
- 2017 Ljubljana, LOVENIA / September 13-16, 2017 / 47th Annual Congress [link not active http://eabct2017.org/]
- 2016 Stockholm, SWEDEN/ August 31–September 3, 2016 / 46th Annual Congress of EABCT
- 2015 Jerusalem, ISRAEL / September 1-3/ 45th EABCT Congress
World Confederation of Cognitive and Behavioural Therapies (WCCBT – founded in 2019)
- 2023: Seoul, KOREA (1-4 June, Coex Convention Center)
- 2019 Founded January 7. Officially launched at the 9th World Congress of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies in Berlin, Germany.
World Congress of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (WCBCT). Dissolved in 2019. Replaced with the World Congress of Cognitive and Behavioral Therapies (WCCBT)
PREVIOUS WORLD CONGRESSES
- 10th: Seoul, KOREA 2023 (see World Confederation of Cognitive and Behavioural Therapies for details)
- 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 Report on WCBCT 2019
- 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