It’s a good question and one that Zaretsky and colleagues decided to research by reviewing the previously published studies in two of the largest research databases, MEDLINE and PsycINFO. How do non-medication treatments fare in bipolar disorder? Based upon their systematic review, they found:

Although psychological models of bipolar disorder fail to inform the psychotherapy treatment to the same extent as in unipolar depression, manualized adjunctive, short-term psychotherapies have been shown to offer fairly consistent benefits to bipolar disorder patients. Cognitive-behavioural therapy, family-focused therapy, and psychoeducation offer the most robust efficacy in regard to relapse prevention, while interpersonal therapy and cognitive-behavioural therapy may offer more benefit in treating residual depressive symptoms.

So basically the upshot is that the type of psychotherapy offered isn’t all that important (although interpersonal therapy didn’t do as well), and that the most common types of psychotherapies available offer an added benefit to people who are grappling with bipolar disorder.

Source: Zaretsky AE, Rizvi S, & Parikh SV. (2007). How well do psychosocial interventions work in bipolar disorder? Can J Psychiatry, Jan;52(1):14-21.

Dr. John Grohol is the founder & CEO of Psych Central. He is an author, researcher and expert in mental health online, and has been writing about online behavior, mental health and psychology issues -- as well as the intersection of technology and human behavior -- since 1992. Dr. Grohol sits on the editorial board of the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking and is a founding board member and treasurer of the Society for Participatory Medicine.

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    Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 18 Jun 2007
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