Its headquarters are in New York City and its membership includes researchers, psychologists, psychiatrists, physicians, social workers, marriage and family therapists, nurses, and other mental-health practitioners and students.
Notable past presidents of the association include Joseph Wolpe, Steven C. Hayes, Michelle Craske, Jonathan Abramowitz, Marsha M. Linehan, Linda C. Sobell, Kelly D. Brownell, Gerald Davison, and Alan E.
[1] The Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies is an interdisciplinary organization committed to the advancement of a scientific approach to the understanding and amelioration of problems of the human condition.
The Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies was founded in 1966 under the name Association for Advancement of Behavioral Therapies [3] by 10 behaviorists who were dissatisfied with the prevailing Freudian/psychoanalytic model (Its founding members include: John Paul Brady, Joseph Cautela, Edward Dengrove, Cyril Franks, Martin Gittelman, Leonard Krasner, Arnold Lazarus, Andrew Salter, Dorothy Susskind, and Joseph Wolpe).
An ongoing debate within the association concerns what many consider to be a movement away from basic behavioral science as the field has attempted to advance and integrate more and more "new" therapies/specializations, particularly the addition of cognitive theory and its variety of techniques.
[10] The field's desire to maintain its scientific foundations and yet continue to advance and grow, was reflected in its most recent discussion about adding the word "cognitive" to the name of the association.
[11] Many notable scholars have served as president of the association, including Joseph Wolpe, Arnold Lazarus, Nathan Azrin, Steven C. Hayes, and David Barlow.
[14] Practitioners teach clients concrete skills and exercises—from breathing retraining, to keeping thought records to behavioral rehearsal—to practice at home and in sessions, with the overall goal of optimal functioning and the ability to engage in life fully.
Because cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is based on broad principles of human learning and adaptation, it can be used to accomplish a wide variety of goals.
These concerns include children's behavior problems, health promotion, weight management, pain management, sexual dysfunction, stress, violence and victimization, serious mental illness, relationship issues, academic problems, substance abuse, bipolar disorder, developmental disabilities, autism spectrum disorders, social phobia, school refusal and school phobia, hair pulling (trichotillomania) and much more.
The ABCT helps provide the prison system with knowledge of how to more humanely treat those who committed crimes and give people the proper care and attention to become great citizens.