World CBT Day Opportunity: Promoting Mental Health in an Age of Uncertainty

World CBT Day, April 7th:
A Unique Opportunity to Showcase Your Work on Promoting Mental Health in an Age of Uncertainty

World CBT Day is an annual event sponsored by the World Confederation of Cognitive and Behavioral Therapies. It is timed to coincide with the World Health Organization’s World Health Day and to reflect the importance of the behavioral and cognitive therapies to global health.

The goal this year is to have a global set of presentations directed towards the public or others who may be interested (e.g., health care providers, policy makers) using different social media platforms. If you have a brief podcast or presentation that addresses Promoting Mental Health in an Age of Uncertainty, would you be willing to do a Facebook or Instagram Live presentation? We need volunteers to address the following:

Issues generally related to uncertainty
The psychosocial aspects of anxiety and threat
Evidence-based strategies to manage stress and anxiety based on CBT principles
How and when to seek help from qualified providers
Other issues that may have particular local interest related to this broader theme

We are also looking to connect with local social media personalities around the world who produce or promote CBT-related content to help spread the word about World CBT Day and inform their followers of the prerecorded and live presentations planned for April 7th. If you run such a social media account or have connections to those who do, please use the contact information below to let us know. A full listing of World CBT Day events and presentations will be distributed for promotion in the days leading up to the event.

A slide deck that includes talking points and possible questions is available. It can be posted or used as a starting point to generally discuss the topic of Promoting Mental Health in an Age of Uncertainty. Although the slide deck is provided here in English, we encourage you to translate it into other languages and dialects to make the presentation as accessible to as many members of the public as possible. Click here to download the slide deck: World CBT Day 2023 Slide Deck

Looking for a yes! Kindly let Mary Jane Eimer, Executive Director, at [email protected] know of your willingness to do a presentation. Please note it can be a pre-recorded and uploaded to YouTube for viewing on April 7th. In your response, please put World CBT Day in the subject line, the title of your presentation, the topic area to be covered, and the platform you intend to use. This information will be collected and sent to the WCCBT as an archive. Thank you.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is a type of treatment that is based firmly on research findings. It places emphasis on changing your cognitions (thoughts) or behaviors (actions) in order to effect change in how you feel. These approaches help people in achieving specific changes or goals.

Changes or goals might involve:

A way of acting: like smoking less or being more outgoing;
A way of feeling: like helping a person to be less scared, less depressed, or less anxious;
A way of thinking: like learning to problem-solve or get rid of self-defeating thoughts;
A way of dealing with physical or medical problems: like reducing back pain or helping a person stick to a doctor’s suggestions.

Cognitive behavioral therapists usually focus more on the current situation and its solution, rather than the past. They concentrate on a person’s views and beliefs about their life. CBT is an effective treatment for individuals, parents, children, couples, and families. The goal of CBT is to help people improve and gain more control over their lives by changing behaviors that don’t work well to ones that do.

How to Get Help

If you are looking for help, either for yourself or someone else, you may be tempted to call someone who advertises in a local publication or who comes up from a search of the Internet. You may, or may not, find a competent therapist in this manner. It is wise to check on the credentials of a psychotherapist. It is expected that competent therapists hold advanced academic degrees. They should be listed as members of professional organizations, such as the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies or the American Psychological Association. Of course, they should be licensed to practice in your state. You can find competent specialists who are affiliated with local universities or mental health facilities or who are listed on the websites of professional organizations. You may, of course, visit our website (www.abct.org) and click on “Find a CBT Therapist”

The Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT) is an interdisciplinary organization committed to the advancement of a scientific approach to the understanding and amelioration of problems of the human condition. These aims are achieved through the investigation and application of behavioral, cognitive, and other evidence-based principles to assessment, prevention, and treatment.