Managing Bipolar Disorder: Therapist Guide A cognitive-behavioural approach

This therapist guide addresses the management of bipolar disorder. Divided into four phases, this 30-session program is designed to be used in conjunction with pharmacotherapy and focuses on helping the patient alleviate depressive episodes, form a support system of family and friends, focus on the most relevant problems outside of the disorder, and improve well-being. The program is based on the principles of CBT and includes such skills as cognitive restructuring, problem solving, mood charting, and activity scheduling. A major goal of the program is the creation of a treatment contract that informs the patient's treatment team and support network how to recognize possible periods of illness and the strategies they should use in order to help the patient during these times.

This Therapist Guide outlines a 30-session cognitive-behavioural treatment for bipolar depression. It provides session-by-session instructions for helping clients decrease and prevent relapse. Bipolar disorder is extremely hard to manage and this program will help clients better prepare themselves for dealing with problems and high-risk situations. Treatment is comprised of four stages: a depression-focused phase (9 sessions), a treatment-contract phase, (4-sessions), a problem-list phase (13 sessions), and a well-being phase (4 sessions). This treatment also includes a component for families to help them understand the disorder and work together with both the therapist and the patient to get the best results from treatment.

Introductory Information for Therapists; Pre-treatment Assessment; Phase 1; Sessions 1-9; Phase 2; Sessions 10-13; Phase 3; Sessions 14-26; Phase 4; Sessions 27-30

Michael Otto, Ph.D. is Professor at Center for Anxiety Disorders at Boston College in Cambridge, MA.Noreen Reilly-Harrington.Ph.D. is a doctor of psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.