Transdiagnostic Group CBT for Anxiety: Clinical Experience and Practical Advice

Abstract

Cognitive-behavioral treatments (CBT) for the six anxiety disorders are potent, but only a small portion of patients receive them. Among several factors limiting their broad dissemination is the diagnostically specific nature of CBT for anxiety; the multiplicity of protocols makes them ill-suited for many mental health programs. This article describes the development of a transdiagnostic treatment approach for anxiety disorders as one way to close the dissemination gap. In particular, we describe our experience with two generations of mixed anxiety groups, where our previous controlled and uncontrolled studies found medium effect sizes within the range of effect sizes found with diagnosis-specific treatments. We also describe lessons learned from the two protocols, which may be of value in the development of transdiagnostic approaches.