Psychological treatment of emotional disorders in Primary Care: The transdiagnostic treatment manual of the PsicAP study

A substantial percentage of primary care (PC) visits are motivated by some type of emotional disorder, especially depression, anxiety and somatization. These common mental disorders represent a significant burden for the people affected and for the society. Despite the availability of effective psychological therapies for these disorders, psychological interventions are rarely used in PC. The aim of the Psychology in Primary Care (PsicAP) project is to demonstrate the efficacy of a transdiagnostic cognitive-behavioural group therapy to treat the most prevalent emotional disorders in PC. This therapy, which involves only 7 sessions, is especially appropriate for PC settings. In the present article, we present the treatment manual, session by session, with extracts that illustrate key contents of the sessions. Finally, we discuss the implications of a protocol of this type at a time when clinical psychologists and clinical psychology interns are starting to be integrated into the PC setting in Spain.