Without a clear game plan for treating clients with Bipolar Disorder, therapists may find themselves in a complex and precarious situation. Because this condition is notoriously difficult to treat—partly due to its sharing features with related or co-occurring conditions—clinicians need both a theoretical and an applied understanding to be effective. In this video, expert clinicians Drs. Timothy Bruce and Arthur Jongsma provide fresh insight into Bipolar Disorder, its subtypes, and its empirically supported treatments. With thorough descriptions of symptoms and thoughtful commentary on four different case vignettes, Bruce and Jongsma give practitioners a solid foundation for successful treatment.
Beginning with an overview of Bipolar Disorder and its DSM features, Bruce and Jongsma include comprehensive descriptions of the major depressive, manic, hypomanic, and mixed episodes related to this diagnosis. Noting that treatment plans aren’t created in a vacuum, but rather tailored to each client within the context of an authentic, empathic relationship, the two clinicians anchor their six-step treatment plan in empirically supported treatments (ESTs). A brief history of the EST movement provides further context.
Bruce and Jongsma highlight sample treatment plans here, and provide useful commentary on a series of case vignettes featuring both individual and group clients. You’ll watch therapists incorporate skillful interventions (including psychoeducation, cognitive restructuring, family involvement, self-monitoring, and activity regulation) based on the approaches of Family-Focused Therapy, Interpersonal and Social Rhythm Therapy, and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy. Behavioral definitions, short-term objectives, and long-term goals are covered too, making for a well-rounded set of tools you can start using immediately to support clients while meeting increasingly stringent professional standards.
If you’ve been searching for instructional resources on Bipolar Disorder or want to learn how to build strong, evidence-based treatment plans aligned with the latest empirically supported methods, be sure to add this video to your library.
This video is part of the 12-video series, Evidence-Based Treatment Planning. Titles in this series include:
- Evidence-Based Treatment Planning for Anger Control Problems
- Evidence-Based Treatment Planning for Bipolar Disorder
- Evidence-Based Treatment Planning for Depression
- Evidence-Based Treatment Planning for Eating Disorders and Obesity
- Evidence-Based Treatment Planning for Panic Disorder
- Evidence-Based Treatment Planning for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
- Evidence-Based Treatment Planning for Social Anxiety Disorder
- Evidence-Based Treatment Planning for Disruptive Child and Adolescent Behavior
- Evidence-Based Treatment Planning for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
- Evidence-Based Treatment Planning for Substance Use Disorders
- Evidence-Based Psychotherapy Treatment Planning
- Evidence-Based Treatment Planning for Generalized Anxiety Disorder
