For many people with bipolar, it is depression that is the source of most of their difficulties. Considerable controversy has surrounded to the question of how to treat bipolar depression. New medications offer the hope of more effective treatment. In this talk I will review the literature on treatments of bipolar depression, both medication as well as other approaches, and integrate that information into our own clinical experience at the Gateway Psychiatric Mood Disorders Clinic in San Francisco.
Peter Forster, MD, Clinical Director of Gateway Psychiatric Services, graduated from the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine in 1985, and completed his residency in psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Forster was previously the Medical Director of Community Mental Health Services for the City and County of San Francisco and Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at John George Psychiatric Pavilion in Alameda. For the last six years Dr. Forster has been recognized as one of the Best Doctors in America. Dr. Forster is currently a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at University of California, San Francisco and a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association.
Kelsey Schraufnagel, PsyD, earned her PsyD in clinical psychology at the California School for Professional Psychology in San Diego. She completed an APA accredited internship, with an emphasis on crisis assessment and intervention, at the University of Colorado-Boulder’s Wardenburg Health Center in the department of Psychological Health and Psychiatry. She was trained in a variety of clinical settings and her experience includes providing individual and group therapy and psychological assessment for those with chronic pain and cancer diagnoses, mood and anxiety disorders, substance abuse or dependence, a history of trauma, and those undergoing life transitions.