Transdiagnostic CBT versus counselling sessions: a naturalistic trial from Saudi Arabia

In a previous feasibility trial, we found that transdiagnostic cognitive behavioural therapy (T-CBT) showed promising results in improving emotional disorders in adults from Saudi Arabia. The primary aim of this study was to replicate these findings and compare T-CBT results with results for counselling sessions. The overall sample consisted of 276 patients (175 in the T-CBT group and 101 in the counselling group). Of the overall sample, 110 patients (39.9%) completed the treatment plan, and 166 (60.1%) disengaged from treatment. The pre- and post-assessments of the clients who completed the treatment showed large effect sizes for almost all outcome measures for both the T-CBT and counselling groups. For patients who decided to disengage from therapy, T-CBT had medium effect sizes for all three measures (depression, anxiety and function), while counselling sessions had medium effect size for the anxiety measure only. This study provides additional evidence that T-CBT is suitable for patients from Saudi Arabia with emotional disorders. The study also provides information regarding when and why T-CBT or counselling was applied in a real clinical setting. Implications and recommendations are discussed. Key learning aims (1) To confirm a previous feasibility trial on the effect of T-CBT in Saudi Arabia. (2) To explore the effect of T-CBT compared with counselling in a real clinical setting. (3) To identify variables related to the choice of interventions.