Unified Protocol for the Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders

AK-PA members please use coupon code AKPA-Member to receive a 40% discount off published pricing.

This course was presented live on November 14, 2025 is available as a webinar through October 2027

Course Description:

The proliferation of specific treatment manuals for specific disorders has created unintended barriers for implementation and dissemination of evidence-based psychological treatments (McHugh & Barlow, 2012). The Unified Protocol for the Treatment of Emotional Disorders (UP; Barlow et al., 2018) is a recently developed transdiagnostic, emotion-focused cognitive-behavioral treatment (CBT) that targets core deficits occurring across the neurotic spectrum (e.g., anxiety, depressive, and related disorders). This workshop will first briefly review evidence supporting the development of such transdiagnostic interventions. This will be followed by a description and demonstration of how to apply core UP treatment modules, along with the similarities and differences between the UP and traditional CBT. Audio and videotaped illustrations of core treatment interventions (e.g., mindful awareness, emotion exposures) will be presented, along with detailed case examples involving complex comorbidity

CE: 6.0

Presenter: Shannon Sauer-Zavala, PhD, 

Dr. Sauer-Zavala is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Kentucky (UK) and is the founding Director of Clinical Services at the UK Clinic for Emotional Health. She is also the Director of Compass Mental Health Consultation, LLC, an organization with a mission to train mental health providers and organizations in cuttingedge evidence-based interventions. Dr. Sauer-Zavala received her doctorate in Clinical Psychology from UK in 2011; she completed her predoctoral internship at Duke University Medical Center and her postdoctoral fellowship at Boston University.

Learning Objectives

•  Describe the advantages and disadvantages of the current method of classifying mental disorders.
• Construct a transdiagnostic case conceptualization for clients presenting with comorbid disorders.
• Utilize mindfulness-based interventions to increase clients’ awareness and experience of emotions.
• Apply cognitive restructuring techniques targeting overestimation and catastrophizing.
• Plan behavioral experiments to promote clients’ ability to engage in intentional action.
• Utilize situational, imaginal, and interoceptive exposures to improve clients’ tolerance of strong emotions.

Cancellation policies

• Refund request due to special circumstances will be evaluated on a case by case basis. Refunded fees may be applied to new membership dues or membership dues renewal.

Alaska Psychological Association (AK-PA) is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists.

AK-PA maintains responsibility for this program and its content.