Bipolar disorder (BD) is a serious mental illness, and clients can have a difficult time accepting diagnoses that are serious. Often, clients feel like they are being labeled or feel stigma due to mental illness. As counselors we need to provide accurate information and help our clients to accept themselves and their reality. Learning how to provide accurate psychoeducation in a supportive manner is an essential skill set for counselors.

• How might you conceptualize a diagnosis of BD with a biologically based theory?
• How might you conceptualize it with a behaviorally based theory?
• How might your clients interpret your diagnosis differently depending on the conceptual perspective?
• Would you treat them in the same way or differently? Why?