If you’ve ever wished you could tackle anxiety, low mood, and intrusive thoughts all at once, you’re not alone. Many people don’t fit neatly into one diagnostic box. Admittedly, my life has been messier than that. Maybe yours has been too.

That’s why the results of a 2024 global meta-analysis in Nature caught my attention. Researchers found that transdiagnosticcognitive behavioral therapy (TD-CBT) a way of working that treats the underlying patterns common to anxiety, depression, and OCD has large and lasting effects across all three. In other words, it’s one therapy that can work for many problems at the same time.

This is good news because symptoms rarely travel alone. Someone with OCD may also feel weighed down by depression. An adult with ADHD might experience both anxiety and perfectionism. Traditional therapy often treats each condition separately, but TD-CBT looks for the shared roots: unhelpful thinking loops, avoidance patterns, and the ways we respond to uncomfortable feelings. By targeting those shared mechanisms, people can see improvement across the board.

In my practice, and my life, I’ve seen how freeing this can be. It’s not about forcing you into a rigid program, it’s about tailoring strategies to you, while still using methods backed by solid science. It means less time bouncing between treatments, and more time focusing on the life you want to build.

And here’s something I believe deeply: seeking help is for everyone. Presidents have psychologists. Olympic athletes have coaches for their minds as well as their bodies. Support is something successful people use to get better, not something you turn to only when you’re at your lowest.

If you’ve been feeling stuck in worry, self-criticism, or endless “what if” loops, it may be time to talk with someone. You don’t need a diagnosis to start. Sometimes the most important step is simply saying, “I’m ready to feel better.”

(This article draws on findings from the 2024 meta-analysis “A systematic review and meta-analysis of transdiagnostic cognitive behavioural therapies for emotional disorders” published in Nature Human Behaviour.)