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Symposium

Interventions and Care Delivery Models in the Context of Resource Limitations
Symposium

Symposium 22 - Innovating CBT in China: Toward More Equitable Access and Sustainable Implementation

Friday, June 26, 2026
9:00 AM - 10:30 AM PDT
Location: Yerba Buena Salon 1, B3 Level
CE: 1.5

Keywords: CBT, Treatment Development, Implementation
Level of Familiarity: Moderate to Advanced
Recommended Readings: Aspvall K, Andersson E, Melin K, et al. Effect of an Internet-Delivered Stepped-Care Program vs In-Person Cognitive Behavioral Therapy on Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Symptoms in Children and Adolescents: A Randomized Clinical Trial[J]. Jama-Journal of the American Medical Association. 2021;325(18):1863-73.,   Blum, H., Rutt, C., Nash, C., Joyce, V., & Buonopane, R. (2021). Mindfulness meditation and anxiety in adolescents on an inpatient psychiatric unit. Journal of Health Care Chaplaincy, 27(2), 65-83.,   Lenhard F, Andersson E, Mataix-Cols D, Rück C, Aspvall K, Serlachius E. Long-term outcomes of therapist-guided Internet-delivered cognitive behavior therapy for pediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder. NPJ Digit Med. 2020 Sep 23;3:124. doi: 10.1038/s41746-020-00327-x. PMID: 33043148; PMCID: PMC7511358.,   Guo, M., Chen, Y., Xie, Y., Zhang, Y., Xu, A., Zhang, G., Kong, J., Zhong, Y., & Wang, C. (2025). How Does Virtual Reality Exposure Treatment Change the Brain Function of Acrophobia Patients? A Randomized Controlled Trial. Depression and anxiety, 2025, 7823251.,   Hatchett, G. T., & Park, H. L. (2003). Comparison of Four Operational Definitions of Premature Termination. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, Training, 40(3), 226–231.

    Chair(s)

  • Ning Zhang, M.D., Ph.D. (he/him/his)

    Psychiatrist/Psychotherapist/Clinical Psychologist
    The Affiliated Brain Hospital of Nanjing Medical University
    Nanjing, Jiangsu, China (People's Republic)

  • Qing Fan, M.D., Ph.D.

    Director of Rehabilitation Department
    Shanghai Mental Health Center
    Shanghai, Shanghai, China (People's Republic)

    • Discussant(s)

  • Ning Zhang, M.D., Ph.D. (he/him/his)

    Psychiatrist/Psychotherapist/Clinical Psychologist
    The Affiliated Brain Hospital of Nanjing Medical University
    Nanjing, Jiangsu, China (People's Republic)

    • Presenter(s)

  • Qing Fan, M.D., Ph.D.

    Director of Rehabilitation Department
    Shanghai Mental Health Center
    Shanghai, Shanghai, China (People's Republic)

  • Haolun Li, M.D., Ph.D. (he/him/his)

    Psychiatric attending doctor
    Nanjing Medical University affiliated Nanjing Brain Hospital
    Nanjing, Jiangsu, China (People's Republic)

  • Yiwen Wu, M.A. (she/her/hers)

    Junior psychotherapist
    Shanghai Mental Health Center
    Shanghai, Shanghai, China (People's Republic)

  • Yongjun Chen, M.S.

    psychotherapist
    Nanjing Brain Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University
    nanjing, Jiangsu, China (People's Republic)

    Handouts

  • Yumin Zhang, M.S. (she/her/hers)

    Psychotherapist/Clinical Psychologist
    The Affiliated Brain Hospital of Nanjing Medical University
    nanjing, Jiangsu, China (People's Republic)

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a widely used, evidence-based psychological treatment characterized by its structured, time-limited, and transdiagnostic applicability. In China, the introduction of CBT began in 1998 with the establishment of the Training Program hosted by Germany-China Academic Psychotherapy Registered Association (DEUTSCH-CHINESISCHE AKADEMIE FÜR PSYCHOTHERAPIE EINGETRAGENER VEREIN, GCAP). During its early implementation, CBT in China faced substantial challenges, including shortages of trained professionals, limited organizational infrastructure, insufficient research capacity, and restricted clinical application. In response, the project systematically developed an integrated service model encompassing organization development, workforce training, scientific research, clinical practice, and social dissemination. This “five-in-one” model has promoted the standardized and sustainable development of CBT within China’s mental health system. Guided by these priorities, this symposium showcases five innovative efforts to expand equitable access and promote the long-term sustainability of CBT within the Chinese context.
This symposium reports a cultural adaptation of CBT within China, and presents a series of applied clinical studies. Presentations describe clinical work across a wide range of populations including but not least patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), acrophobia, and depression, and of contexts including outpatients and inpatients. Presenters will describe how these approaches collectively enhance the precision, accessibility, and sustainability of CBT interventions, ranging from effect evaluation and mechanistic exploration to self-help methods innovation and clinical process optimization.
The five presentations, featuring researchers from early-career to senior levels, are focusing on enhancing equitable accessibility and addressing sustainable development to CBT in China. We begin with a study on stepped-care internet-based CBT for adults with OCD. The second presentation investigates the effectiveness of a short-term mindfulness-based training for depressive inpatients. The third presentation details the development and cultural adaptation of a family-based self-help CBT manual for adolescents with OCD. The fourth presentation examines virtual reality based exposure therapy (VRET) for acrophobia as a technologically sustainable innovation, comparing it with traditional imaginal exposure therapy (IET) and exploring neural mechanisms within visual network. The final presentation investigates dropout rate and its associated factors in clinical CBT-based group therapies.
This symposium highlights China’s growing contributions to global CBT innovation through equitable access and sustainable implementation. These studies demonstrate CBT’s capacity for adapting effectively to diverse settings and populations through developing low-intensive, precision-oriented, technologically innovative, and facilitating optimization. Collectively, the presentations offer insights relevant to global efforts to extend evidence-based psychological care in equitable and sustainable ways.

Learning Objectives:

  • Enhance understanding of culturally adapted and sustainable CBT implementation in resource-limited mental health systems.
  • Discuss strategies for making CBT more accessible through precision-oriented, low-intensity, and technology-supported delivery models.
  • Describe a stepped-care internet-based CBT model that uses precision-oriented strategies to improve access for adults with OCD.
  • Compare the adjunctive effects of mindfulness-based intervention and relaxation training for inpatients with current depression episode.
  • Examine the development and cultural adaptation of a self-help CBT manual for adolescents with OCD using expert and user feedback.
  • Compare effects of VRET and in IET on visual network resting-state functional connectivity in acrophobia.
  • Identify dropout patterns and patient-, treatment-, and service-level barriers in CBT-based group psychotherapy.

Presentations:

  • 9:05 AM - 9:22 AM PDT
    (SYM 22) Effect of a Stepped-care Internet-based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Obsessive-compulsive Disorder in China: A Noninferiority Clinical Trial

    Speaker: Qing Fan, M.D., Ph.D. – Shanghai Mental Health Center

    Co-Author: Yiwen Wu, M.A. (she/her/hers) – Shanghai Mental Health Center

    Co-Author: Yuhan Yang, B.S. – Shanghai Mental Health Center

  • 9:22 AM - 9:39 AM PDT
    (SYM 22 ) A Preliminary Randomized Clinical Trial of Short-term Mindfulness-based Training for Depressive Inpatients in China

    Speaker: Haolun Li, M.D., Ph.D. (he/him/his) – Nanjing Medical University affiliated Nanjing Brain Hospital

  • 9:39 AM - 9:56 AM PDT
    (SYM 22) Localization and Development of a Family-based Self-help Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Manual for Adolescents with Obsessive-compulsive Disorder in China

    Speaker: Yiwen Wu, M.A. (she/her/hers) – Shanghai Mental Health Center

    Co-Author: Xingyu Liu, B.S. – Shanghai Mental Health Center

    Co-Author: Qing Fan, M.D., Ph.D. – Shanghai Mental Health Center

  • 9:56 AM - 10:13 AM PDT
    (SYM 22) Functional Segregation Within Visual Network in Acrophobia Using Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy and Imaginal Exposure Therapy: A Randomized Controlled Trial

    Speaker: Yongjun Chen, M.S. – Nanjing Brain Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University

    Co-Author: Sichu Wu, Ph.D. – Nanjing Brain Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University

    Co-Author: Zixin Chen, M.A. – Nanjing Brain Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University

    Co-Author: Zehui zhang, M.A. – Nanjing Brain Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University

    Co-Author: Ziyue Xu, M.A. – Nanjing Brain Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University

    Co-Author: Jifan Wang, M.A. – Nanjing Brain Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University

    Co-Author: Meilin Guo, M.A. – Nanjing Brain Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University

    Co-Author: Shujun Hou, M.A. – Nanjing Brain Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University

    Co-Author: Xuan Huang, M.A. – Nanjing Brain Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University

    Co-Author: Ning Zhang, M.D., Ph.D. (he/him/his) – The Affiliated Brain Hospital of Nanjing Medical University

    Co-Author: Chun Wang, Ph.D. – The Affiliated Brain Hospital of Nanjing Medical University

  • 10:13 AM - 10:30 AM PDT
    (SYM 22) Dropout Rate and Related Factors in Group Psychotherapy: A Retrospective Study

    Speaker: Yumin Zhang, M.S. (she/her/hers) – The Affiliated Brain Hospital of Nanjing Medical University

    Co-Author: Mengdi Song, M.S. – The Affiliated Brain Hospital of Nanjing Medical University

    Co-Author: Ning Zhang, M.D., Ph.D. (he/him/his) – The Affiliated Brain Hospital of Nanjing Medical University

    Co-Author: Chun Wang, Ph.D. – The Affiliated Brain Hospital of Nanjing Medical University