Management Team

Tom Wootton

Chief Executive Officer

Tom is the founder of Bipolar Advantage and the creator of the Bipolar Advantage Concepts.

After Tom's retirement and subsequent diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder, Tom has worked to change the paradigm of mental conditions while changing himself into a better person. As an undiagnosed bipolar person, Tom has had way too many positions to list, but brings insight that only an eclectic mix of experience can bring.

He specialized in advanced, accelerative learning systems for many years, which he taught to corporations and schools. He worked in development and training for many internet technology companies. His clients included: Visa, PeopleSoft, Network Associates, HP, Cisco, Baan, Ford, Nortel, Deloitte Consulting, KPMG, Lucent, Sage, Ericsson, Fidelity Investments, British Telecom, NSA, AT&T, Charles Schwab, Nokia, Siemens, EDS, and many more worldwide.

Robert Otto

Vice President of Sales

Rob is responsible for Bipolar Advantage's Sales strategy. He brings more than 25 years of sales management and market development at startups and major software companies.

Otto was vice president of sales and business development at IdeaBlade, a provider of developer productivity suites and middleware for the Microsoft .NET environment. He also served as president of Ignyte, a management consultant firm, and held senior management positions at Profluent, Intellisync, CSI Digital and Test Equipment Corp. He has also worked in senior sales management roles at BackWeb Technologies and Alias Corp, which was acquired by SGI.

Rob holds a B.B.A. degree in Marketing and Finance from the University of Oregon.

Michaela Brockstedt

Vice President of Marketing

Michaela is responsible for Bipolar Advantage's Marketing strategy. She brings more than 13 years of market development for major national brands including Pottery Barn, Williams-Sonoma, Inc. and Target Corporation.

Brockstedt was Vice President of Advertising for Cost Plus World Market and most recently led her own consulting firm brandplanning.net, serving small businesses, start-ups and entrepreneurial ventures.

Michaela holds an MBA from Ohio State University, Fisher College of Business, Ohio and a BFA in Communication Design from Parsons School of Design, New York.

Peter Forster MD

Medical Director

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.

In his private practice, Dr. Forster specializes in the evaluation and treatment of adult depression, bipolar disorder (manic-depression), anxiety, panic disorders, phobias and stress reactions.

I believe that caring and respectful relationships are the basis for any kind of healing. In my work with patients I view what we do together as a collaboration. You are the expert in yourself and your feelings, I bring to that collaboration the expertise from my academic experience and training as well as from the care of thousands of patients with similar problems, together we create a treatment plan that will lead to a sustained recovery from a mood or anxiety disorder.