Anxiety Disorder

Anxiety disorders are a common class of disorders, and comorbidity among anxiety disorders is frequently observed. Cognitive-behavioral and behavioral psychotherapies for anxiety disorders are effective, though most evidence-based treatment protocols focus on the treatment of one principal anxiety disorder. In the last decade, treatments that aim to treat underlying vulnerabilities shared across anxiety disorders have been developed to more efficiently help patients that present with one or more anxiety and related disorders. We discuss two of these transdiagnostic treatments, the Unified Protocol for the Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders, developed by David Barlow and colleagues, and Transdiagnostic Group Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, developed by Peter Norton and colleagues. Background, similarities and differences, as well as evidence for each treatment are discussed. To date, the evidence from initial trials demonstrates efficacy for unified transdiagnostic treatments that is comparable to single-diagnosis protocols, providing promise for reducing therapist burden in acquiring and using evidence-based psychotherapies.