I would like to start by thanking all of the distinguished board members of IACP and ACT for their historic decision taken to affiliate and work together to disseminate the science and good practice of CBT. The idea of working together and collaborating to promote CBT with preservation of the unique character of each individual association (IACP and ACT) is very exciting for me and for all of our board members.  Coming together is only a beginning but working together is success. I hope that this collaboration will be welcomed and appreciated by all members of both associations. This affiliation will be celebrated at the upcoming ABCT meeting in Washington DC. I would like to invite all of our members to join us during the memorialization of this major agreement event on the 15th of November at 7 pm. I believe that it is time to unite rather than divide as the term CBT is losing its specificity. CBT is now recognized as an umbrella term that aim to cover many different empirically supported approaches including those defined as new (third) wave (generation) therapies focusing on different processes and thus certainly widening our scope and perspective in understanding our clients and reducing the pain they are going through.

Science and good practice goes hand in hand and our mutual aim is to increase the number of scientist practitioners to improve the quality of service given to our patients in the process of reducing human suffering and pain. IACP has always been flexible and open to collaborate and liaise with other International associations or Institutions that share similar goals. That is to disseminate the science and good practice of CBT. Our peer reviewed journal (International Journal of Cognitive Therapy) and our board members continuous lectures and workshops conducted in different parts of the world aim to materialize this goal. I believe that our aim should 

not be towards building up empires or power elites or to compete with each other, but simply to unite to help reduce human suffering. That is why many of us have devoted their lives in training professionals working in the area of mental health. Just recently many past and present  board members of IACP made immense contributions to the scientific quality of the recent EABCT congress held in Sofia in September of 2018. On top of conducting workshops and giving keynotes in different congresses organized in different parts of the world, the IACP organizes truly international congresses every three years. The upcoming 10th ICCP (International Congress of Cognitive Psychotherapy) will be held in Rome in the year 2020 and I hope many of the IACP and ACT members will be actively involved in turning this traditional congress into another memorable one just like the prior ones. Dr. Antonella Montano, the president of the upcoming ICCP will soon announce and promote the congress.

As the last but not the least I am delighted to encourage you to become members or to renew your existing membership to IACP which will certainly bring many benefits. Please find out more information about the benefits of becoming new members or sustaining your membership at www.the-iacp.com. 

Sincerely,

Mehmet Sungur, MD

President IACP

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