Skip to main content
. 2017 Aug 21;6(8):e149. doi: 10.2196/resprot.7934

Table 1.

The Unified Protocol for Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders in Adolescents (UP-A) preventive intervention session descriptions.

Session UP-Aa module Module title Main content
1 Module 1 Building and Keeping Motivation Introduce confidentiality and group rules; obtain 3 top problems, severity ratings, and a SMARTb goal for each problem; complete emotion identification skills activity if sufficient time remains.
2 Module 2 Getting to Know Your Emotions and Behaviors Psychoeducation about emotions and their function; introduce emotional behaviors, the 3 parts of an emotional experience, and the “Before, During, and After” form for tracking emotional experiences outside of sessions.
3 Module 3 Emotion-Focused Behavioral Experiments Psychoeducation about cycle of avoidance, opposite action, and behavioral experiments; reflect on current use of free time and come up with a list of enjoyed activities; introduce weekly activity tracker for on-going behavioral activation.
4 Module 4 Awareness of Physical Sensations Psychoeducation about body sensations, their relationship to intense emotions and their harmlessness; introduce the concept of “fight or flight response” and review cycle of avoidance; conduct sensational exposures with the group.
5 Module 5 Being Flexible in Your Thinking Introduce the concept of “thinking traps” (ie, cognitive distortions) and teach common thinking traps; introduce the concept of automatic and alternative thoughts as well as detective thinking skills; Re-rate top problems obtained in session 1.
6 Module 5 Being Flexible in Your Thinking Review thinking traps and detective thinking skills; introduce and ensure understanding of problem solving skills; conduct examples using problem solving skills with group members; review skills learnt so far in the program.
7 Module 6 Awareness of Emotional Experiences Introduce the rationale for present-moment awareness and practice this skill in session using non-emotional stimuli (eg, focus on breathing); introduce rationale for non-judgmental awareness; do an individual mini-test assessing skills taught in the program so far.
8 Module 7 Situational Emotion Exposures Review cycle of avoidance, reinforcement, and maintenance of learned behavior; provide psychoeducation about emotion exposures; create emotional behaviors forms to identify relevant exposures; if time permits, conduct a group exposure activity; assign exposure homework.
9 Module 8 Keeping it Going—Maintaining Your Gains Review exposure homework and plan future exposures if necessary; re-rate top problems and revisit SMART goals; review skills that have been most useful for each group member and make an individualized post-program plan to practice skills.

aUP-A: Unified Protocol for Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders in Adolescents.

bSMART: specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound.