Pilar Cárdenas-Gimber is a licensed marriage and family therapist in practice over 30 years, serving the San Diego metropolitan area and remote clients, through virtual therapy. She is also mom to a daughter, now 28 years old, and living with bipolar 1 illness since age 12. Over the years, Pilar has shared aspects of the journey from illness to wellness, with the twists and turns and challenges that bipolar disorder presents. On that journey together, Pilar and her daughter shared many milestones, from the emergence of symptoms, the diagnosis and learning to accept and live with it, treatment, and the ensuing and far-reaching ramifications: social and emotional effects, sensitivities and nuances of parenting, effects on siblings and family, non-compliance with medications and subsequent psychiatric hospitalization. Her daughter’s particular bipolar journey impacted her middle school, high school and college years, and included a legal action to enforce student’s rights (FAPE). Pilar is deeply passionate about mental health advocacy, education, and de-stigmatization. She believes that health management should be an integrative approach that encompasses both physical and mental aspects, without separation. She is a valuable member of the International Bipolar Foundation. She has developed helpful and practical content, through both editorial and video. Above all, Pilar shares her daughter’s struggles and triumphs, as seen and experienced through the eyes of a mother.
Taking Bipolar to School – Success, Support, and Self-Advocacy (SLIDES)