James Donaldson on Mental Health - Family-Focused Therapies for Bipolar Disorder

Where medication fits in For most kids with bipolar disorder, therapy is combined with medication , which can include traditional mood stabilizers, such as lithium or valproate, and/or a typical anti psychotic medications.

Part of therapy is helping families keep track of how things are going and communicate clearly with their prescriber.

“We don’t prescribe medication in these therapy sessions,” says Dr.

Fristad, “but we help families become better consumers of care.” That might mean keeping a log of side effects or noting when symptoms change.

Some kids with mild symptoms might be able to manage with therapy alone — especially if they have strong routines around sleep and nutrition.

She emphasizes sleep as a treatment target: “We spend a lot of time helping families improve sleep hygiene because poor sleep can tip a kid into an episode.

Sometimes fixing that piece makes a big difference.” Other treatment options In addition to the core therapies she’s developed and studied, Dr.

Fristad notes there are other promising approaches that may help some children with bipolar disorder.

One is dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), originally developed for adults with borderline personality disorder.

“DBT has a lot in common with what we do in family-focused therapy,” says Dr.