The complete Bipolar IN Order Suite takes eight weeks. Each week has about four hours of self-paced lessons delivered in 10 minute segments. Each lesson has a combination of video, text documents, and exercises. These different formats compliment each other, reinforce the concepts, and help you to integrate the ideas. This format also allows for the option of taking a break for any length of time, instead of having to work on it for long periods.

In addition to the different learning formats of each lesson, there are discussion forums for the courses, so you can ask questions and discuss challenging concepts with other people taking the course. You can develop friendships and a greater network of support this way -- or remain anonymous and nobody needs to know.

All of the material, forms, quizzes, databases, and forums are open to you for up to one year. You can review, repeat, or research the material at any time. Since the on-line programs are self-paced, you will be able to complete sections at any time of day or night.

The eight weekly live sessions are meant to supplement the learning experience for the entire course. You can ask questions at weekly meetings to make sure you correctly understand the material and that you are getting the most out of doing the exercises. It is a great opportunity to discuss the concepts, get answers to your concerns, or share your insight about the process.

The course is 38 hours of self-paced learning + 16 hours of live meeting sessions. A total of 54 Continuing Education Units is certified by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences (PCE#4050 ) for MFT and LCSW Therapists. CEU credits can be applied over 2 years at your request by scheduling the exams for the appropriate year.

Our Education Team

Our courses are certified for Continuing Education Credits by the California State Office of Behavioral Health (PCE#4050). With the exception of the legal and ethical class requirements that are not a part of our courses, the Bipolar In Order Course alone fulfills more than a year of Continuing Education Units for licensed therapists.

There are many sites claiming to have solutions for depression and bipolar. It is difficult to know if what they say is valid. We took our program to the top experts in the field to get their opinions. The people teaching and running the bipolar programs at Universities, editing the academic journals, and writing books from a doctor's perspective are impressed. You can see a few of their comments in the box on the right.

As we shared our ideas with the professors who are teaching the next generation of doctors and therapists, many of them were so excited that they decided to join our team. They have taught live workshops for us and are working on converting them to share online with you. You can read brief a bio of some of them below.

Tom Wootton - President, Bipolar Advantage

Tom Wootton is the author of The Bipolar Advantage, The Depression Advantage, and Bipolar In Order. He developed new concepts that he integrated into the first Bipolar In Order workshops in 2002. Since that time he has developed a series of workshops dealing with depression and bipolar. He has been considered a leading consumer advocate and speaker and has been giving talks to consumer groups, mental health leaders, and doctors. He gives keynote speeches to conferences nationwide on mental health.

Rochelle I. Frank, PhD

Dr. Frank is an assistant clinical professor in the Clinical Sciences Training Program at U.C. Berkeley, and in the Department of Psychiatry at U.C.S.F. School of Medicine. She is also an adjunct professor of clinical psychology at Argosy University and a clinical supervisor at The Wright Institute, and is past President of the Alameda County Psychological Association.

Peter Forster, MD

Dr. Peter Forster is a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the University of California - San Francisco, an editor of "Emergency Psychiatry" the publication of the American Association for Emergency Psychiatry, Past President of the Northern California Psychiatric Society, and a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association.

Dr. Forster specializes in the assessment of the standard of care in suicidal and crisis patients. An internationally respected expert, he has written many articles on: psychiatric emergencies, mood disorders, anxiety, somatization and managed care.

Maureen Duffy, PhD

Maureen Duffy is a professor of counseling and family therapy and a practicing couples and family therapist. She is highly regarded in the marriage and family therapy world and is on the editorial boards of The Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, The Family Journal, and The Journal of Systemic Therapies. She is the Co-Editor of The Qualitative Report, a journal dedicated to qualitative research and inquiry. She is also the Co-Editor of the "Family and Health" column in The Family Journal. Maureen is a co-founder of the International Institute for Human Understanding and of Open U - a new adventure in education for anyone interested in increasing their understanding of interpersonal and inter-cultural relations.

Scott Sullender, PhD

Scott Sullender is an ordained minister, a licensed Psychologist (#8931), and a Diplomate with the American Association of Pastoral Counselors. He has over 35 years of professional experience as a pastor, pastoral counselor, organizational executive, psychologist and author/writer. He has made a specialty of providing psychological and career assessments for Protestant ministers and seminarians. He serves as the chief administrator of The Lloyd Center. In addition to his work with counseling and assessments, Dr. Sullender} is the primary instructor in the center's Doctor of Ministry in Pastoral Care and Counseling program. Consequently, he holds the rank of Associate Professor of Pastoral Counseling at San Francisco Theological Seminary.

Michael R. Edelstein, PhD

Dr. Edelstein was a Training Supervisor and Fellow of the Albert Ellis Institute. He holds a diploma in Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy and is on the Board of Advisors of the National Association of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapists. He is Past President of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapy. He is a Certified Sex Therapist and has served as a Consulting Psychologist for the National Save-A-Life League, Inc., the oldest suicide prevention center in the United States.

Bipolar IN Order Concepts

Bipolar Advantage champions an integrated approach to depression and mania that addresses all the aspects of our lives. It embraces following the current evidence-based methods to reduce symptoms and achieve recovery as a critical and necessary first step, while providing a clear and user friendly path utilizing the same tools for accomplishing something much greater. Our course does not ask you to deny your belief in the effectiveness of medicine, therapy, meditation, nutrition, or any other tool, but to modify the goals of treatment.

The Six Stages Of Growth

There are six stages of growth from bipolar disorder to Bipolar IN Order. Bipolar is a very complex condition, and this simplification provides a framework to explain important concepts. The stages are: Crisis, Managed, Recovery, Freedom, Stability, and Self-Mastery. One might expect that most will feel comfortable with concepts of the Crisis, Managed, and Recovery stages; while Freedom, Stability, and Self-Mastery may be outside of the beliefs that you are currently familiar with. These Six Stages of Growth are seen as interconnected to a diminishing or opening Window of Tolerance as Dr. Dan Siegel calls it in his book Mindsight. We refer to it as our Comfort Zone.

Bipolar Disorder - From Crisis to Recovery

The current standard of care as defined by the National Institute of Mental Health is to minimize symptoms and accept the high probability of relapse. While many tools have been developed to effectively manage bipolar disorder, there are far too many people who are still living on the edge of relapse and suffering greatly from it. Even for those who achieve a level of remission that is commonly called recovery, they live in constant fear that one sleepless night can send them into another crisis.

Trapped in a vicious cycle of Crisis, Managed, Recovery, and Relapse is the very definition of bipolar disorder and its depressive counterpart unipolar disorder. Even in Recovery, the illness is lurking behind every thought, waiting for the slightest chance to trigger a new episode. It consigns its victims to a lifetime of fear and constant vigilance in an attempt to keep the flow of energy and information at bay.

It is interesting that so many people have a different word than "recovery" for the state where we are limited to the comfort zone of no high or low symptoms. They do not call it "recovery," they call it "bored." It is one of the major reasons that they slip back into the Managed Stage and risk another Crisis. This is why the National Institute of Mental Health says, "in spite of modern, evidence-based treatment, bipolar disorder remains a highly recurrent, predominantly depressive illness."

Bipolar IN Order - From Freedom To Self-Mastery

Beyond Recovery, we enter the Freedom Stage where we begin to break free of the cycle of Crisis and Recovery. From there we graduate to Stability Stage and eventually achieve Self-Mastery. It will take slow and careful work with some set backs, but we will find ourselves comfortable and in control while experiencing increased flow of energy and information. States that previously created great disturbance and needed some form of intervention in the Managed Stage are now within our comfort zone.

Real Stability means to maintain control in an ever wider range of experience. Some of us can even achieve stability across the entire range of the bipolar condition and live an extraordinary life.

Self-Mastery is when we choose how to react to every stimulus. The stimulus can be internal or external, real or not, but the important thing is that we can make a conscious choice about how to act.

Integrated Approach to Success

In order to escape from the disordered cycle of repeating Crisis, Managed, and Recovery Stages, we need to break free from the limited view of treating our condition as a medical illness only. We must begin to see the whole picture from an integrated point of view. That means addressing the Physical, Mental, Emotional, Spiritual, Relationship, and Career/Financial aspects of our lives. It is important to recognize how the bipolar condition effects our entire life.

More Thorough and Helpful Assessments

Many assessments leave out critical information and perspectives that are needed to move from Bipolar Disorder to Bipolar IN Order. By focusing on the negatives, they often keep our perspective stuck in illness. If all states are only seen as negative, difficult, or meaningless, they can be an indication of disorder. If states can be valued for their different contributions to the whole of our experience, we are more likely to be on the path toward success. Changing the focus of the assessments will change the expectations as well as the outcomes of treatment.

Creating a Toolbox For Success

The most effective way to treat any condition is to approach it from a multifaceted perspective. You can't just adjust one element and expect the entire problem will change. What is needed is an integrated approach that treats the whole person.

We need to see all of the approaches as various tools that we can use to solve the problem. Just as a mechanic has pliers, wrenches, jacks, and diagnostic tools, we need to have all of the tools at our disposal so that we can choose the correct one at the appropriate time. Leaving any of the tools out of the toolkit only limits the options and leaves us searching for a tool when we need it the most.

Creating A Realistic Plan For Success

A business plan approach to moving from bipolar disorder to Bipolar IN Order is called a Life Plan. It may also be the difference between success or failure, but the stakes can be your very life if you do not move away from the risk of another crisis. Planning for Success addresses all aspects of your life. A good plan must have integration between the various aspects of your life, have clear and measurable goals, and have time based milestones to make sure that you are on track. Following a plan actually increases confidence that goals can be met and that change is possible.

Better Assessments for Bipolar And Depression

A quick search on the internet and you can find hundreds of assessments for depression, mania, bipolar, or other mental health issues. They supposedly help you to determine if you MIGHT be bipolar. Most of them are free. They should be paying you for wasting your time.

It takes twelve hours over the course of three weeks to complete the assessment section of our program. During the weekly live meetings, we spend another two hours (six total) in small groups or one hour one on one (three total) going over your results and helping to insure that you did the assessments properly. We need to know exactly where we are before choosing tools or making plans to improve our condition.

Assessing Functionality

We don't just fill in a checklist with questions like "Do you have racing thoughts?" We find out how intensely, how well you understand what is going on, how well you function at different levels of intensity, how far outside of your comfort zone they take you, and whether you value the experience both for past occurrences and in the present.

Our assessments are designed to find out where you are on the scale from bipolar disorder to bipolar IN order. Each step of the assessment was designed to help determine exactly what action is needed to move you toward a better life. We don't just assess what is wrong with you - we find out what understanding, tools, and skills you have already developed and what you are missing.

Assessing The Environment

It is important to look at your environment and assess how conducive it is to growth and change. We take an assessment from the person with bipolar and from their family or friend. Our assessments are looking to identify strengths, areas of agreement, and support. We also want to assess what situations could cause setbacks or really need to be improved to achieve your goals. It helps everyone to understand their role and what needs to be done to create a better life for all.

Accounting For Time

A critical tool in developing skills and deciding which tools to use is an awareness of how functional or comfortable you are and for what length of time in specific states. Understanding whether you have two days or one month before your condition changes is critical to effective growth without major setbacks. A visual graph that we help you to create of different states over time effectively demonstrates these concepts.

Integrated Professional Assessments

The doctors on our Bipolar Advantage Education Team have written what their specialties do during assessments and what you should expect when you go to a doctor who practices one of the various disciplines. This is a great resource for understanding how the different specialties can work together and how their expertise can contribute to your success.

Assembling The Tools And Team For Success

If one sets out to become a plumber, an electrician, a mechanic, a dentist, or any number of skilled trades, it is necessary to get an education, assemble a toolkit, and apprentice with someone who will help perfect the use of the tools. Getting Bipolar IN Order is similar; we need to become much more educated about the condition, assemble the tools to use, and get trained on how to use them. Practice using the tools is a critical part of success.

It takes fourteen hours over the course of three weeks to complete the tools section of our program. During the weekly live meetings, we spend another two hours (six total) in small groups or one hour one on one (three total) making sure that you understand the tools and are practicing them correctly.

Tools For All Aspects of Bipolar

Our tools course helps you to assemble, practice and use the tools for physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, social, and career/ financial success. It also helps you to find and manage team members including family, friends, and professional help.

Tool Adaptation

Most tools in the toolbox can be used in almost every stage of development. The way we use them, though, will change as we progress. We call this "tool adaptation," as the tool and our usage of it adapts to the needs of the stage we are in.

Stage Specific Tools

Each stage on the path from bipolar disorder to Bipolar IN Order has different challenges and opportunities. What tools to use and how to use them will be different at each stage from Crisis to Self-Mastery. It is important to understand the concept of stage specific tools in order to progress safely and at the best pace.

Planning To Succeed

It is important to have a backup plan in case you find yourself in crisis again, but unless you have a solid plan for success you are only planning for failure. A success plan creates a viable path from Bipolar Disorder to Bipolar IN Order and addresses your entire life; physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, social, and career/financial.

It takes ten hours over the course of two weeks to complete the planning section of our program. During the weekly live meetings, we spend another two hours (four total) in small groups or one hour one on one (two total) making sure that your plan is reasonable and likely to be accomplished.

Integrated

It is important to consider balance as a key to success. If you are doing great in your career, but your relationships are in disrepair, this will have an effect on your mental and emotional life. Any part of your life that is not brought into balance with the others can eventually bring down the rest.

Clear and Measurable

One of the keys to any plan is to have clear and measurable goals. If your goal is not clear and measurable, you will not be able to tell if you've achieved it. We need to make our goals as clear as possible.

Setting goals for freedom, stability, and self-mastery are more difficult to describe for most people who are new to the concepts. It is important to discuss with your team what success means to you and how you will know when you have accomplished it.

Time-Based Milestones

Milestones should always be based on a reasonable time frame to achieve them. If we do not set a timeframe, we may never finish. On the other hand, if we set timeframes that are too short, we may feel a sense of defeat and give up on achieving our goals. Setting and achieving difficult yet achievable milestones strengthens our belief that we can accomplish our future goals.

Plans For Bipolar Disorder

The Crisis through Recovery Stage Plans follow the accepted model of symptom reduction. The goals are focused on reducing discomfort and episodes of crisis or fear. While the emphasis here is not on long term planning, the plans are very specific about getting to Recovery and preparing to begin the journey toward Bipolar IN Order.

Plans For Bipolar IN Order

The Freedom Stage and Stability Stage Plans deploy all the skills, methods, tools, and expertise possible to encourage growth and expand the Comfort Zone. In the Stability Stage we can finally look at the long term goals with very reasonable expectations of meeting them within the timeframe proposed. Relationships and Career/Financial goals come back into focus because our bipolar conditions are IN Order.