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Individual Three Minute Open Paper

Mood Disorders and Suicidality

Transdiagnostic Processes and Culturally Adapted Interventions in Mood and Anxiety Disorders

6 - (3-MIN2) The Helpfulness of Unified Protocol in Treating Depression: The Pilot Study

Friday, June 26, 2026
12:30 PM - 12:40 PM PDT
Location: Yerba Buena Salon 2, B3 Level
Keywords: Depression, Unified Treatment, Transdiagnostic
Recommended Readings: Barlow, D. H., Farchione, T. J., Bullis, J. R., Gallagher, M. W., Murray-Latin, H., Sauer-Zavala, S., Bentley, K. H., Thompson-Hollands, J., Conklin, L. R., Boswell, J. F., Ametaj, A., Carl, J. R., Boettcher, H. T., & Cassiello-Robbins, C. (2017). The Unified Protocol for Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders Compared With Diagnosis-Specific Protocols for Anxiety Disorders: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA psychiatry, 74(9), 875–884. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2017.2164,   Christopher, K., Munivenkatappa, M., Reddi, S., & V. S., B. (2025). The use of unified protocol in treating depression. Indian Journal of Clinical Psychology, 51, 115–121.,   ,   ,  


Aim: To examine the efficacy of Unified Protocol in reducing symptom severity of depression when compared to a treatment-as-usual group (TAU).

Method: The study included participants between ages 18-55 with a primary diagnosis of moderate to severe depression, single episode or recurrent according to the DSM-5 criteria, with or without other comorbid Axis I diagnosis or Axis II traits as screened by DIAMOND and LPFS-SF. Five participants were assigned to the intervention group, which received 15-18 sessions of the Unified Protocol, and five participants were allocated to the TAU and monitored on pharmacotherapy. Their progress was assessed across baseline, midpoint and post-intervention. The Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale was used to assess the severity of depression, while other relevant tools were employed to evaluate the process variables of interest.

Results: Findings have suggested that the participants receiving sessions of the Unified Protocol showed improvement in the depression and anxiety scores of individuals when compared to those in the control group, whose scores fluctuated across the timeline. It is also useful for improving emotion regulation, distress tolerance, experiential avoidance, and cognitive flexibility.

Discussion: The results reflect that the intervention is efficacious in treating depression and its comorbidities while emphasising the need to address core emotional processes that are implicated in long-term recovery and in reducing the chances of recurrence. Unified Protocol, with its modular approach, is clinically valuable due to its emphasis on flexible experience of and response to emotions.

Learning Objectives:

  • Upon completion, the participant is expected to have improvement in the severity of their depressive symptoms and will have better emotional regulation.