Unified Protocol
Core Mechanism
Targeting shared emotion regulation processes across disorders through mindful awareness, cognitive flexibility, and emotional exposure
Ontology
Transdiagnostic: emotional disorders share common processes (neuroticism, aversive reactivity, avoidance)
Therapeutic Voice
"Let's track the emotion: what triggered it, what were you thinking, what did you feel in your body, what did you do?"
View of the Person
A being whose emotional disorders share common maintaining processes — neuroticism, aversive reactivity, avoidance
Evidence
Not yet in guidelines as named protocol
10+ RCTs
Sakiris & Berle (2019)
Strong and growing. Comparable to single-disorder protocols with efficiency advantages.
Conditions
Epistemology
Blind Spots
Transdiagnostic breadth may sacrifice specificity; may underperform disorder-specific treatments for some conditions
Contraindications
Active psychosis, severe cognitive impairment, acute crisis requiring immediate stabilization, clients with conditions better served by disorder-specific protocols (e.g., OCD responding better to dedicated ERP)
Training
Well-manualized transdiagnostic CBT. Graduate CBT training + manual sufficient
No formal certification; BU Center for Anxiety trainings
Graduate coursework + manual; optional workshop 8-16 hrs
Minimal
Philosophical Roots
Barlow (triple vulnerability model); transdiagnostic movement; dimensional models of psychopathology (HiTOP); Brown & Harris (common pathways)
Related Modalities
Test Yourself
What does 'transdiagnostic' mean?
Show answer
Targeting shared processes across disorders rather than separate protocols per diagnosis.