Unified Protocol for Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders

Abstract

This online therapist guide is a radical departure from disorder-specific treatments of various emotional disorders, and is designed to be applicable to all anxiety and unipolar mood disorders, as well as other disorders with strong emotional components, such as many somatoform and dissociative disorders. It covers the Unified Protocol (UP), which capitalizes on the contributions made by cognitive-behavioral theorists by distilling and incorporating the common principles of CBT present in all evidenced based protocols for specific emotional disorders, as well as drawing on the field of emotion science for insights into deficits in emotion regulation. It covers the seven modules of UP, and focuses on four core strategies to help patients: becoming mindfully aware of emotional experience; reappraising rigid emotion laden attributions; identifying and preventing behavioral and emotional avoidance; and facilitating exposure to both interoceptive and situational cues associated with emotional experiences.