Unified Protocols for Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders in Children and Adolescents

Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) is arguably the most effective psychotherapy model for children and adolescents with emotional disorders (e.g., anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorders, trauma and stress-related disorders, etc.). Emotional disorders in youth frequently overlap or co-occur, and yet many of the existing, effective therapies available for children and adolescents with emotional disorders target just one or a smaller subset of these problems. The Unified Protocols for Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders in Children and Adolescents, based in groundbreaking research from Jill Ehrenreich-May, David H. Barlow, and colleagues, suggest that there may be a simpler and more efficient method of utilizing effective strategies, such as those commonly included in CBT, in a manner that addresses the broad array of emotional disorder symptoms in children and adolescents. The child and adolescent Unified Protocols do this by framing effective strategies in the general language of strong or intense emotions, more broadly, and by targeting change through a common lens that applies across emotional disorders. Specifically, the child and adolescent Unified Protocols help youth by allowing them to focus on a straightforward goal across emotional disorders: reducing intense negative emotion states by extinguishing the distress and anxiety these emotions produce through emotion-focused education, awareness techniques, cognitive strategies, problem-solving and an array of behavioral strategies, including a full-range of exposure and activation techniques. The Unified Protocol for children and adolescents comprises a Therapist Guide, as well as two Workbooks, one for children, and one for adolescents.

Jill Ehrenreich-May, PhD, is Associate Professor and Director of the Child and Adolescent Mood and Anxiety Treatment (CAMAT) program in the Child Division of the Department of Psychology at the University of Miami. Sarah M. Kennedy, PhD, is a postdoctoral fellow at Children's Hospital Colorado, where she provides clinical services and conducts research on transdiagnostic approaches to assessment and treatment of emotional disorders in youth. Jamie A. Sherman, MS, is a doctoral candidate in the child clinical psychology program at the University of Miami. Emily L. Bilek, PhD, is a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Michigan in the Department of Psychiatry. Brian A. Buzzella, PhD, ABPP, is currently Director of the VA San Diego's Family Mental Health Program and H. S. Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the University of California San Diego. Shannon M. Bennett, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Psychology in Clinical Psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medicine, and is the Director of Psychology for the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. David H. Barlow, PhD, ABPP, is Professor of Psychiatry and Psychology Emeritus at Boston University and the Founder and Director of the Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders, Emeritus.

Introduction to the Unified Protocols for the Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders in Children (UP-C) and Adolescents (UP-A) PART ONE: ADOLESCENTS (UP-A) Chapter 1 Core Module 1: Building and Keeping Motivation Chapter 2 Core Module 2: Getting to Know your Emotions and Behaviors Chapter 3 Core Module 3: Introduction to Emotion-Focused Behavioral Experiments Chapter 4 Core Module 4: Awareness of Physical Sensations Chapter 5 Core Module 5: Being Flexible in Your Thinking Chapter 6 Core Module 6: Awareness of Emotional Experiences Chapter 7 Core Module 7: Situational Emotion Exposure Chapter 8 Core Module 8: Reviewing Accomplishments and Looking Ahead Chapter 9 Module P: Parenting the Emotional Adolescent PART TWO: CHILDREN (UP-C) Chapter 10 Introduction to the Unified Protocol for the Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders in Children (UP-C) Chapter 11 UP-C Session 1: Introduction to the Unified Protocol for the Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders in Children C Skill: Consider How I Feel Chapter 12 UP-C Session 2: Getting to Know Your Emotions C Skill: Consider How I Feel Chapter 13 UP-C Session 3: Using Science Experiments to Change our Emotions and Behavior C Skill: Consider How I Feel Chapter 14 UP-C Session 4: Our Body Clues C Skill: Consider How I Feel Chapter 15 UP-C Session 5: Look at My Thoughts L Skill: Look at My Thoughts Chapter 16 UP-C Session 6: Use Detective Thinking U Skill: Use Detective Thinking and Problem Solving Chapter 17 UP-C Session 7: Problem Solving and Conflict Management U Skill: Use Detective Thinking and Problem Solving Chapter 18 UP-C Session 8: Awareness of Emotional Experiences E Skill: Experience My Feelings Chapter 19 UP-C Session 9: Introduction to Emotion Exposure E Skill: Experience My Feelings Chapter 20 UP-C Session 10: Facing Our Feelings-Part 1 E Skill: Experience My Feelings Chapter 21 UP-C Sessions 11-14: Facing Our Feelings-Part 2 E Skill: Experience My Feelings Chapter 22 UP-C Session 15: Wrap Up and Relapse Prevention S Skill: Stay Healthy and Happy PART THREE: VARIATIONS AND ADAPTATIONS Chapter 23 UP Group and Individual Therapy Variations, Other Adaptations Considerations for adapting UP-A and UP-C for use with different populations