Are Your Ups and Downs Getting In The Way Of A Healthy, Manageable Life?
Here it comes again. Another stretch of heaviness: not wanting to do anything or talk to anyone, and beating yourself up for not doing better.
Or the opposite: so up, so wired, so irritable that everything and everyone sets you off, and nothing feels under control.
Or the worst of both at once: thoughts pounding and racing through your head while your body feels heavy and hopeless.
If you're living with bipolar disorder, you know these cycles. You may have tried medication, therapy, or both, and still wonder if things can really feel steady.
Whether it's bipolar I, bipolar II, cyclothymia, or somewhere else on the bipolar spectrum, these shifts in mood and energy can ripple into every part of your life: your work, your relationships, your sense of who you are.
As a therapist who specializes in bipolar and other mood disorders, I understand that this condition is cyclical and exists on a spectrum. Your experience of bipolar is unique, so your treatment should be too. Working together, we can better understand your mood cycles and strengthen your coping strategies.
What Are The Signs And Symptoms Of Bipolar Disorder?
When seeking treatment for bipolar disorder, it's important to work with someone who understands the subtle differences between bipolar and other conditions, such as major depression, ADHD, autism (ASD), anxiety disorders, and borderline personality disorder. Because their symptoms overlap, bipolar conditions can be misdiagnosed or overlooked:
Major depression: Many people with bipolar, especially bipolar II, first seek help during a depressive episode, so the highs never come up and the diagnosis stays "depression."
ADHD: Restlessness, distractibility, fast talking, and impulsivity can look like hypomania. A key difference is that ADHD is fairly constant, while bipolar symptoms come in episodes.
Autism (ASD): Intense emotional reactions, sleep difficulties, and periods of shutdown or withdrawal can be mistaken for mood episodes, or can mask bipolar disorder that's also present.
Anxiety disorders: Racing thoughts, agitation, and trouble sleeping can come from anxiety, but they can also be signs of a mixed or hypomanic state.
Borderline personality disorder (BPD): Both can involve intense mood shifts, impulsivity, and anger, and with rapid-cycling bipolar, moods can shift quickly too. A key difference is that bipolar usually includes periods of stability between episodes, while in BPD, emotional ups and downs tend to be more constant and closely tied to relationships and fears of rejection.
These conditions can also occur alongside bipolar, which is why an accurate picture of your particular pattern matters so much. All of them can be managed with the right combination of treatment and support, but getting the diagnosis right comes first.
Effective Treatment Is Vital For Individuals Living With Bipolar
In any given year, about 2.8% of U.S. adults, roughly 7 million people, live with bipolar disorder, across every age, race, and background. [1]
Without effective treatment, whether because of misdiagnosis or a lack of supportive care, people with bipolar disorder face a higher risk of crisis, including a significantly higher risk of suicide. The encouraging news is that the right support makes a real difference.
Current research suggests that bipolar disorder has genetic roots and that factors like stress, trauma, sleep disruption, early attachment, and hormonal changes can influence when and how symptoms show up. Many of these factors are simply out of your control.
Still, many people with bipolar disorder blame themselves for their moods. When the storm passes, there's often a crash into shame and self-loathing that doesn't even make sense, because the mood wasn't a choice. Depression and irritability can make it easier to pull away from others, which only deepens the isolation that so often comes with bipolar.
One of my goals as a therapist is to support and validate you on your journey. Therapy offers an outside perspective to help you identify triggers and solutions, and together we can build a new sense of stability in your life.
Open Circle Counseling Offers Individualized Treatment For Bipolar Disorder
My approach to bipolar disorder treatment is grounded in evidence-based therapies while also incorporating holistic practices, all individualized to your needs. Most of the people I work with find more stability when medication is part of their care, and I'm happy to provide a referral to a prescriber if needed. In addition to working with clients who have a diagnosis of bipolar I or II, I work with people who sense that their moods follow a cycle, or that past diagnoses of anxiety or depression haven't quite fit.
Because I treat symptoms on a spectrum, my approach acknowledges nuance and can offer insights that other approaches may miss. With these new perspectives, you'll develop a better understanding of yourself and your needs.
What To Expect
Using a combination of behavioral therapies, creative exercises, and holistic lifestyle changes, my goal is to help you find a steady middle ground that feels far more sustainable than a rollercoaster of highs and lows. I also include psychoeducation to help you understand the bipolar cycle, so you can better anticipate and manage your symptoms. Some of the bipolar disorder interventions I incorporate are:
Interpersonal and Social Rhythm Therapy (IPSRT): helps you build steady daily routines, especially around sleep, which can help prevent new mood episodes and keep you stable longer
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): helps you recognize early warning signs of depression or mania and respond with concrete steps, like pacing your activity and challenging distorted thoughts, before an episode takes hold
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT): teaches mindfulness and distress tolerance skills so you can manage triggers
Body-based approaches: breathing, releasing body tension, and noticing how your body affects your thinking, so you can calm your nervous system and catch mood shifts sooner
Expressive Arts Therapy: taps into the nonlinear process of creativity to encourage nonverbal expression, flexibility, and self-trust, while reminding you of your inner gifts and strengths
No matter how long you've been caught in this cycle or how hopeless things feel right now, there is a way out. Therapy gives you a lifelong toolkit for managing your moods and staying steady between episodes, so you can live with more balance, ease, and satisfaction.
Still Unsure If Therapy Is Right For You?
I haven’t had success with therapists who specialize in bipolar disorder in the past—how do I know that treatment with you will be different?
I understand how important it is to have a supportive connection with your therapist, which is why I encourage all prospective clients to set up a consultation call. It's a chance to get a sense of my personality and communication style.
If you decide to take the next step, we will schedule a first appointment during which we will discuss your goals for therapy and how my unique, eclectic, mind-body approach to treatment is particularly helpful for managing bipolar symptoms.
If you decide to take the next step, we'll schedule a first appointment to talk about your goals and how my evidence-based, holistic approach can help with managing bipolar symptoms.
Not every therapist receives in-depth training in bipolar disorder, so if past therapy didn't feel like the right fit, that makes sense. I've focused my training on mood disorders, including approaches like IPSRT that were developed specifically for bipolar.
It may also help to know that I have a bipolar II diagnosis myself. Although I haven't walked in your exact shoes, I know what it's like to live with the impact of a mood disorder. I'm passionate about helping others understand their specific mood challenges, find ways to manage their symptoms, and stay current on the latest treatment research.
I’m worried that even if I go to therapy, my symptoms will just get worse.
With clients who have bipolar disorder, I like to use the metaphor of stepping stones. I believe small wins are the key to big shifts, and I'm confident therapy can help you build those stepping stones to cross the water. If you fall, I'm here to throw you a lifeline.
Bipolar disorder is lifelong, and like any mood disorder, its symptoms are cyclical. There will be times when you don't feel like you're making progress, but treatment gives you lifelong tools and a second set of eyes to help you anticipate and manage symptoms. If you're working with a prescriber or physician, I'm happy to coordinate with them so your care is as thorough and connected as possible.
Sometimes I don’t even know how to describe what I’m thinking or how I’m feeling—how can therapy help me then?
Not all therapy has to be talk therapy. In fact, this is exactly where expressive arts and body-based approaches shine. We can use creative exercises to explore your emotions beyond words, and mindfulness practices when words feel overwhelming.
I also have a wide range of books, videos, and articles to share that can help you find the language to describe your moods, emotions, and thoughts.
What's the difference between bipolar I, bipolar II, and cyclothymia?
They sit on the same spectrum, separated mostly by how high the highs go. Bipolar I involves full mania, intense enough to seriously disrupt your life. Bipolar II involves hypomania, a milder high that can even feel good or productive, paired with the depression that usually does the real damage. Cyclothymia is a lower-grade cycling that never hits those peaks but wears you down over time. The label matters less than getting an accurate read on your particular pattern, and that's part of what we sort out together.
Can therapy help bipolar disorder, or do I just need medication?
Therapy is a core part of managing bipolar disorder, not an optional add-on. For many people, medication does important work stabilizing the biology, and most of my clients find they feel steadier with it. But medication alone doesn't teach you to catch a cycle early, protect your sleep, or rebuild the parts of life the illness has strained. That's the work we do together, and I'm always glad to coordinate with your prescriber.
How do I know if my mood swings are bipolar or just moodiness?
Everyday moodiness shifts with your circumstances and passes within hours. Bipolar mood changes tend to last days or weeks and come with changes in energy, sleep, and judgment, not just feelings. They often have their own momentum, arriving without an obvious trigger and lasting long enough to affect how you function. If you're reading this and recognizing yourself, that's worth a real assessment rather than another year of wondering.
Your Moods Do Not Define You
If you're living with bipolar disorder, therapy can help you feel more stable and in control day-to-day. You're not alone in this, and stability is possible. Contact me to learn more about my approach.
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