Christian Counseling for Bipolar Disorder Helping You Achieve a Peaceful Balance
Maybe you’ve suspected in the past that you have bipolar disorder, or perhaps you’ve never considered it. Christian counseling for bipolar disorder can help you either way and no matter what your background is, there’s hope!
Think about these questions:
Do you struggle with depression at times?
Do you experience strong irritable moods?
Do you find yourself acting recklessly?
Do your moods seem to be either extremely positive or negative?
Are your moods closely tied to your energy and motivation levels?
If the answer to a few of these questions is yes, you might have bipolar disorder.
Get connected with a Christian Counselor
Please contact our reception team at
949-386-7179
In the past, bipolar disorder was called manic-depressive disorder. The name was based on bipolar individuals’ ups and downs of mania and depression. The word mania described the positive moods, while depression focused on the low or negative feelings.
The definition of bipolar disorder is still evolving. Experts continue to learn more about the condition and how to treat it. It’s usually characterized by extreme mood swings, from euphoria to sadness and back again. These emotions can have dangerous implications, including hazardous behavior or suicidal tendencies.
Each individual with bipolar is affected differently. Some people remain highly functional, while others struggle to maintain work and relationships or accomplish everyday tasks. This unpredictability can be exhausting for the individual and everyone around them.
Imagine taking every emotion you feel and dialing it up about ten notches. This is what it’s like to live with bipolar disorder. Sometimes you feel like you’re on top of the world and can take on any challenge. Then suddenly you plummet into darkness where you lack energy and motivation. You feel worthless.
Trying to cope with bipolar disorder on your own can seem lonely and impossible. We encourage you to seek support at Culver City Christian Counseling. We will help you gain control of your symptoms with client-centered Christian counseling for bipolar disorder.
Christian Counseling for Bipolar Disorder
What’s the goal of Christian counseling for bipolar disorder?
The counselors at Culver City Christian Counseling aim to help you manage your symptoms and your mood swings so you can have a stable and functional life.Our treatment involves managing mania, which may lead you to be so ablaze with energy that you’re tempted into risky behavior or to act against your values.
We will also help you address your seasons of depression when it can be hard to keep the faith that God is working in your life.We want you to find balance through faith and quality Christian counseling. God’s presence in your life is unchanging, no matter where you are emotionally.
Treatment for Bipolar Disorder
Both medications and therapy can help treat bipolar disorder. The counselors for bipolar disorder at Culver City Christian use psychotherapy techniques including cognitive-behavioral therapy, interpersonal/social rhythm therapy, family therapy, and group therapy.
Your Culver City Christian counselor will assess your symptoms and may work with your physician to create an individualized treatment plan.
Cognitive-behavioral therapy works to develop an awareness of your thoughts and emotions so you can manage the related behaviors. In bipolar disorder, when you have mood changes, your thought patterns are also affected. Identifying irrational thoughts based on mood transitions can help you understand and control your emotions and behaviors.
Psychodynamic therapy helps you identify and work through any painful experiences from your past. You’ll be able to connect those experiences with your current behavior. This process increases your self-awareness and helps you build healthier relationships and coping skills.
Interpersonal therapy focuses heavily on relationships and how bipolar disorder has affected them. You’ll learn how to lessen the impact of your disorder on your relationships.
Social rhythm therapy focuses on healthy self-care habits, like getting enough sleep and creating daily functional routines.
In family therapy, you and your family can receive support as you all learn more about bipolar disorder. Your family will determine how they can support you, and they’ll have a chance to talk about their feelings and concerns.
In group therapy, you can give and receive support and compassion from others who are experiencing similar struggles.
Here is an example of how Christian counseling can help someone with bipolar disorder:
I didn’t know I had a disorder. My manic phases felt so good! I got so much done. But, sometimes I made terrible decisions. The depressive phases were awful and took longer to go away. When I finally got Christian counseling for bipolar disorder, I understood what was happening! Now I can identify when my moods are changing, and I’m equipped to handle the transitions.
Treating Bipolar Disorder in Children
It’s somewhat uncommon for a child to be diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Usually, older teens and adults are the ones who receive a diagnosis.In fact, bipolar disorder in children is a controversial topic. Some experts believe that children as young as six can have the disorder, while others say it’s rare and over-diagnosed.
If you believe your child may have bipolar disorder, or they’ve already received a diagnosis, don’t despair. We can help. We will focus on your child as an individual and help meet their recovery needs. Christian counseling for bipolar disorder can not only help adults but children and teens as well, using techniques such as cognitive-behavioral therapy.
To find out more, visit our pages for Christian counseling for children and Christian counseling for teens.
It’s important to find a reliable professional for treatment of bipolar disorder. This condition can be dangerous because of the extreme mental changes, so please seek help as soon as you can. Here’s how the counselors at Culver City Christian Counseling can help you:
- Offering support from someone who understands the complex struggles you’re facing.
- Giving you an awareness of your mood changes and cycles.
- Finding peace and healing by drawing near to Christ.
- Offering solutions to manage negative thoughts and behaviors.
- Helping you fully understand bipolar disorder and how it impacts you and those around you.
Maybe it’s not you struggling with bipolar disorder, but someone close to you. You’re right to be concerned, and whether you’re looking for help for yourself or someone else, we can provide guidance and support.
Your counselor will offer a compassionate, faith-based approach to counseling for bipolar disorder. We want to offer wisdom from God’s Word while encouraging you to rely on Christ for healing and understanding.
Learning About Bipolar Disorder
When you have bipolar disorder, your life is often characterized by a sense of helplessness, confusion, or being out of control. In Christian counseling for bipolar disorder, you’ll gain a better understanding of why you feel the way that you do so that you can become healthy and well-balanced.
Am I Bipolar? Symptoms Explained
Almost 3% of American adults struggle with bipolar disorder, but unfortunately over half of them don’t seek treatment, and as many as 17% eventually commit suicide. There is treatment available, and it’s important to get help! Please consider these symptoms if you think you or someone you love might have bipolar disorder:
- Bipolar Depression – Major depression is a condition in itself. What makes bipolar depression different is the cycling of moods between mania and depression. Episodes of bipolar depression last two weeks or more and are characterized by extreme sadness, fatigue, lack of motivation, and sometimes suicidal thoughts or actions.
- Bipolar Mania – Bipolar mania episodes last at least one week. Symptoms can vary but include elevated or extremely irritable mood, inflated self-esteem, decreased need for sleep, high levels of motivation and goal setting, racing thoughts, increased involvement in pleasurable activities including promiscuity, spending sprees, and other risky behavior.
- Hypomania – A less severe form of bipolar mania (usually seen in bipolar disorder type 2), hypomania doesn’t always involve risky behavior but is instead associated with elevated mood and increased productivity.
- Mixed Episode – Sometimes challenging to describe to those who don’t experience these symptoms, a person experiencing mixed episodes feels both “up” and “down” at the same time. Symptoms of both mania and depression occur nearly every day for at least one week.
- Rapid-Cycling – This term describes those who transition from mania to depression at least four times in a 12-month period. Each episode must last long enough to be considered a distinct episode. Rapid-cycling can happen with both bipolar 1 and bipolar 2.
We hope this sounds familiar by the time you’ve been working through the counseling process for a while:
I didn’t even know there was more than one kind of bipolar disorder. The more I learned about it, the more I realized I did have a problem! And this was upsetting in the beginning, but I was able to get Christian counseling for bipolar disorder. I am so relieved to have support and to figure out how to manage this so I can live a better life!
At Culver City Christian Counseling, we offer reliable psychological testing if you think you might have bipolar disorder.
Types of Bipolar Disorder
Each person’s symptoms will be different. Researchers have found that bipolar disorder is divided into a few different types based on how the individual experiences mania and depression. And each type includes additional variations.
Identifying the type of disorder and variations you have is so important so you can receive the most effective treatment. The types of bipolar disorder include:
Bipolar disorder type 1 – Those with this type experience the usual symptoms we typically associate with bipolar disorder, including manic episodes lasting one week or more, periods of major depression, and mixed episodes.
Bipolar disorder type 2 – A milder form of bipolar disorder, those with bipolar 2 experience less severe mood extremes and milder forms of mania known as hypomania, alternating with periods of severe depression.
Whether you experience only mild symptoms or you have trouble functioning in daily life, it’s important to get help for bipolar disorder. With Culver City Christian counseling for bipolar disorder, you’ll receive the solutions you need for the challenges bipolar disorder creates.
FAQ
The length of counseling entirely depends on your situation! Your counselor will consider your symptoms, how well you’re responding to treatment, and how committed you are to your treatment plan. At your initial session and throughout the process, you’ll have opportunities to talk about your treatment goals with your counselor.
Medication is often necessary for controlling symptoms of bipolar, but talk with your doctor first. You may be able to manage bipolar disorder without medication.
Christian counseling for bipolar disorder is an effective treatment method that may be used both in conjunction with or as an alternative to medication. Your counselor will be open to hearing your perspective and working with your doctor to create your personalized treatment plan, with or without medication.
It’s normal for someone with bipolar disorder to be unaware that they have it, especially if they experience hypomania. Depending on your situation and relationship, you may be able to encourage your loved one to get a checkup, or even to raise the issue of possible bipolar disorder with them.
Be sure to cultivate a compassionate spirit and encourage them that a diagnosis is not an aspersion on their character, but a way to identify treatment options and improve their quality of life. If you are worried your loved one may harm themselves or someone else, don’t carry this concern alone. Talk to them or one of our trusted counselors.
Contact Us Today
At Culver City Christian Counseling, we offer a risk-free initial session to help you feel confident in your choice to seek help. To find out more or to schedule an appointment, contact us online today or call us at (949) 386-7179.
Get connected with a Christian Counselor
Please contact our reception team at
949-386-7179