Welcome From the Program Chairs

As the 2026 ABCT program chairs, we are thrilled to welcome you to ABCT’s 60th Annual Convention in Baltimore, MD. Affectionately called “Charm City,” Baltimore is known for its creative and quirky spirit, crab cakes and seafood boils, and rich cultural history centered on community and civil rights. Between sessions, we hope you take time to visit one of Baltimore’s many museums, take photos with the vibrant street art, or enjoy some seafood on the waterfront.

For ABCT’s 60th anniversary, we have organized the convention around the theme, “Integrating Compassion and Science: Empowering our Community to Engage in Evidence-based Collective Action.” Amid a tumultuous and divisive climate, both societally and within the profession, we hope to move ABCT forward together by emphasizing rigorous science that also centers compassion for one another, our clients, and our communities. As conference chairs, we prioritized presentations exemplifying those goals, with research integrating community engagement and compassion within in studies, practice, education, and treatment approaches.

This year, we are proud to feature a brand-new presentation category in our Convention: clinical poster sessions. The inaugural 69 posters accepted this year spotlight novel CBT-based clinical approaches and / or case studies that expand the reach and utility of CBT science and practice with the communities who need them most. We are also excited to continue the inclusion of individual oral abstract sessions in the convention program, which had been introduced by last year’s program chairs.

In addition to our members’ submissions, we have six invited speakers for the morning plenary sessions, a format which was likewise successfully piloted last year in New Orleans. We are excited to announce these speakers and their three themed morning sessions, including ABCT’s first plenary featuring Indigenous scholarship and researchers:

Friday, November 13, 2026, 8:00 AM – 9:15 AM

Multiple Ways of Knowing: Integrating CBT, Cultural and Community Practices, and a Broader Philosophy of Psychological Science

• Joseph Gone, Ph.D., “Evidence & Inference in Therapeutic Outcome Evaluation: Juxtaposing Scientific & Indigenous Ways of Knowing”
• Kelsie Okamura, Ph.D., ABPP, & Cherilyn Inouye, Ph.D., “Mohala Na Pua Ui I Ka Wai O Na Kuahiwi: Community-driven Drug Prevention Implementation for Compassionate Ko‘olau”

Saturday, November 14, 2026, 8:00 AM – 9:15 AM

Advancing Compassion and Science Via Social Justice and Advocacy: A Professional Responsibility in Difficult Times

• Mitch Prinstein, Ph.D., ABPP, “Science Having an Impact: Tough Questions to Consider Before Our Research Can Create Real Change”
• Monnica Williams, Ph.D., “Why Social Justice Matters to Cognitive Behavioral Science and Practice”

Sunday, November 15, 2026, 8:00 AM – 9:15 AM

Exposure is the Compassionate Choice: Increasing Our Effectiveness with Trauma-Informed and Justice-Based Exposure Practices

• Melanie Harned, Ph.D., “Treating PTSD as a Suicide Prevention Strategy”
• Caitlin Pinciotti, Ph.D. “Aligning Evidence-Based Exposure Therapy With Justice-Based Principles”

In the coming month, we will provide a full report on the Program Committee’s submission, review, and decision process for this year’s convention.

It is a pleasure to serve as your program chairs for the 2026 ABCT Annual Convention. We are thankful for the opportunity granted to us by President Carolyn Becker and the ABCT board. We are grateful to the 2026 Convention Committee for their hard work and dedication to planning this year’s convention, to the 2025 Program Chairs for their guidance, and to the ABCT Central Office staff, especially Stephen Crane and Courtney White, for all their help and leadership. We also want to thank Dr. Emily Bilek for her hard work and thoughtfulness as Coordinator of Convention and Continuing Education.

Finally, thank you to all 260+ members of the Program Committee (and your students!) for spending your valuable time reviewing abstracts so that this year’s convention can spotlight the most cutting-edge and rigorous cognitive behavioral science, practice, and education our field has to offer. We could not have done this without help from all of you.

If you would like an opportunity to be involved in ABCT convention planning in the future, please visit the “Volunteer Me” portal on the ABCT website.

We look forward to seeing you in Baltimore!