Conceptual background, development, and preliminary data from the unified protocol for transdiagnostic treatment of emotional disorders

Abstract

Anxiety and mood disorders are common, chronic, costly, and characterized by high comorbidity. The development of cognitive behavioral approaches to treating anxiety and mood disorders has left us with highly efficacious treatments that are increasingly widely accepted. The proliferation of treatment manuals targeting single disorders, sometimes with trivial differences among them, leaves the mental health professional with no clear way to choose one manual over another and little chance of ever becoming familiar with most of them, let alone trained to competence in their delivery. Deepening understanding of the nature of emotional disorders reveals that commonalities in etiology and latent structures among these disorders supersedes differences. Based on empirical evidence from the domains of learning, emotional development and regulation, and cognitive science, we have distilled a set of psychological procedures that comprise a unified intervention for emotional disorders. The Unified Protocol (UP) is a transdiagnostic, emotion-focused cognitive behavioral treatment, which emphasizes the adaptive, functional nature of emotions, and seeks to identify and correct maladaptive attempts to regulate emotional experiences, thereby facilitating appropriate processing and extinction of excessive emotional responding to both internal (somatic) and external cues. The treatment components of the UP are briefly outlined. Theory and rationale supporting this new approach are described along with some preliminary evidence supporting its efficacy. Implications for the treatment of emotional disorders using the UP are discussed.

Efficacy of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Generalized Anxiety Disorder in Older Adults: Systematic Review, Meta-Analysis, and Meta-Regression

“…The finding that depression treatment effects were associated with GAD treatment outcomes highlights potential areas for clinical innovation, particularly given current interest in transdiagnostic approaches for the treatment of comorbid anxiety and depression. 19,67 A number of the meta-analyses were statistically heterogeneous, reducing the generalizability of conclusions. This may have reflected variation within control subgroups, such as differing definitions of TAU.…”

Prevention of Anxiety and Depression in Children: Acceptability and Feasibility of the Transdiagnostic EMOTION Program

“…The common diathesis, in the presence of stress, may lead to the experience of anxiety, depression, or both (Axelson & Birmaher, 2001;Weersing et al, 2008). The evidence in support of a generalized treatment response (Weisz, McCarty, & Valeri, 2006;Wilamowska et al, 2010) is consistent with targeting common underlying processes. An examination of the disorder-specific protocols for youth anxiety and depression (cited earlier) indicated that they have comparable structures and share several intervention strategies (e.g., psychoeducation, coping skills training, problem solving, cognitive change, behavioral strategies).…”

Un programa de Tratamiento de corte Cognitivo-Comportamental basado en las TIC para la prevención y el tratamiento de la depresión: Descripción del programa y datos preliminares

“…Recientemente ha surgido evidencia acerca de la existencia de un solapamiento de las estructuras latentes y las características clínicas de los trastornos de ansiedad y los trastornos del estado del ánimo, conformando ambos los denominados Trastornos Emocionales (te) (Wilamowska et al, 2010). Estos trastornos dan lugar a una reducción de la calidad de vida de las personas convirtiéndose a menudo en trastornos crónicos y muy incapacitantes (Slade, Johnston, Oakley-Browne, Andrews y Whiteford, 2009).…”