Global CBT Ambassador 2026: Professor Louise Sharpe, AACBT
Event Date: November 18, 2026
Location: Online (Zoom)
AACBTAustralasia
Global CBT Ambassador 2026
Professor Louise Sharpe
“Taming the ‘what-ifs’: treating fears of chronic disease progression”
Paste AACBT logo URL in srcProfessor Louise Sharpe of the University of Sydney is AACBT’s Global CBT Ambassador for 2026. Her four-hour online workshop turns to a problem that sits at the centre of a great many long-term conditions and is still poorly served by standard anxiety protocols: the fear that the illness will get worse.
At a glance
About the workshop
Fear of progression, sometimes described as fear of recurrence, is one of the most commonly reported unmet needs among people living with a chronic or life-limiting condition. It has its own shape. The feared outcome is often realistic, reassurance rarely settles it for long, and the checking and avoidance that follow can interfere with treatment as well as with daily life.
The workshop looks at how these fears are assessed and how cognitive and behavioural methods can be adapted to work with a threat that cannot simply be reappraised as unlikely. It draws on Professor Sharpe’s research programme on psychological adjustment to chronic illness and pain.
Registration
Workshop flyer
The Global CBT Ambassador programme is an initiative of the World Confederation of Cognitive and Behavioural Therapies, supported by all of the regional associations represented on the WCCBT. Each year a member organization names a mental health professional whose work deserves global attention and invites them to present a Global CBT Ambassador event. Details are subject to change; please check the AACBT website to confirm.