Citation

Bentley KH. J. Clin. Psychol. (Hoboken) 2017; 73(5): 547-558.

Affiliation

Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders, Boston University.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1002/jclp.22452

PMID

28221666

Abstract

This article presents the use of a transdiagnostic, emotion-focused treatment with a young woman with nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI), social anxiety disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder. The patient also presented with subclinical depressive, posttraumatic stress, and eating disorder symptoms. The Unified Protocol for Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders (Barlow et al., 2011), a cognitive-behavioral intervention designed to be applicable across anxiety, depressive, and related disorders with strong emotional components, was used to address the range of Laura's presenting concerns. After 16 individual treatment sessions, Laura experienced significant reductions in NSSI (and urges to engage in NSSI) as well as observable improvements in her self-reported ability to respond more adaptively to intense emotion. She also reported moderate reductions in her anxiety disorder symptoms. This case illustration demonstrates how a short-term, transdiagnostic treatment approach can be flexibly applied to a variety of problems maintained by aversive and avoidant reactions to intense emotion.

© 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Language: en

Keywords

emotional disorders; nonsuicidal self-injury; transdiagnostic; unified protocol