Assessments For Success
A quick search on the internet and you can find hundreds of assessments for depression, mania, bipolar, or other mental health issues. They supposedly help you to determine if you MIGHT be bipolar. Most of them are free. They should be paying you for wasting your time. Their assessments are only for disorder and are not very useful for those who want to get their condition IN Order.
The thorough assessments in our program add up to 16.75 hours and are divided into beginner and advanced packages so you can get started on them without bogging down. It is critical, though, to know where you are starting from with an IN Order perspective. Be prepared to take a serious look at your condition before being taught the tools. Our programs are designed for real results and are not just a quick fix. Functionality-based assessments are a critical part of success.
General Functionality Assessments
We don't just fill in a checklist with questions like "Do you have racing thoughts?" We find out how intensely, how well you understand what is going on, how well you function at different levels of intensity, how far outside of your comfort zone they take you (and those around you), and whether you value the experience both for past occurrences and in the present.
Our assessments are designed to find out where you are on the scale from bipolar disorder to Bipolar IN Order. Each step of the assessment helps determine exactly what action is needed to move you toward a better life. We don't just assess what is wrong with you - we find out what understanding, tools, and skills you have already developed and what you are missing.
Specific Functionality Assessments
The Specific Functionality Assessments help us to pinpoint where the comfort zone line is so we can make sure not to go too far over it. By assessing each aspect of our condition we find where to focus our efforts. We accomplish this by creating separate graphs for the six main parts of our lives; physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, social, and career/financial.
Accounting For Time
A critical tool in developing skills and deciding which tools to use is an awareness of how functional or comfortable you are and for what length of time in specific states. Understanding whether you have two days or one month before your condition changes is critical to effective growth without major setbacks. A visual graph that we help you to create of different states over time effectively demonstrates these concepts.
Assessing The Environment
It is important to look at your environment and assess how conducive it is to growth and change. We take an assessment from the person with bipolar and from their family or friend. Our assessments are looking to identify strengths, areas of agreement, and support. We also want to assess what situations could cause setbacks or really need to be improved to achieve your goals. It helps everyone to understand their role and what needs to be done to create a better life for all.
Family and Friends Assessment
Most people might expect this assessment to be about how others see the bipolar person. Although this assessment does include a small amount of such observations, it is mostly about what the family and friends need to understand about their own role. The questions are geared toward helping them to look at family dynamics, their own issues, relationship skills, and strengths. This helps them to be more effective members of our team.
Adverse Symptoms Assessment
Creating a list of the elements of our condition that we see as adverse or not very functional is an important start in building a complete assessment.
Positive Features Assessment
Creating a list of the elements of our condition that we see as positive is an equally important step in building a complete assessment. This list of good traits is what motivates people to do the work necessary to get bipolar under control. It is interesting that in the process of doing the adverse and positive assessments, many items end up on both lists.
Integrated Professional Assessments
Depending on what we discover during our assessment process, it may be necessary to bring in experts to help. We need at least a basic understanding of where to begin working with specific professionals using additional assessments which they provide. Knowing what to expect from professionals will help you to choose the best sources to help you on the path to success.
The doctors on our Bipolar Advantage Education Team have written what their specialties do during assessments and what you should expect when you go to a doctor who practices one of the various disciplines. This is a great resource for understanding how the different specialties can work together and how their expertise can contribute to your success.
A Complete Assessment Package
We suggest meeting with a trained expert to go over the assessments and make sure they were well understood and done properly. You can also share your results with your doctor, therapist, and support team.
Find out how our online course can change your life and get you on the path from Bipolar Dis-Order to Bipolar IN Order. Learn More
"Bipolar In Order provides the essential message that symptom reduction or elimination is far from the main goal of adaptation and intervention. Sure to challenge traditional thinking, this important work is integrative and wise."
- Stephen P. Hinshaw, PhD, Professor and Chair, Dept of Psychology, UC Berkeley
"Bipolar IN Order explores the positive value of mania and depression, linking it to Eastern traditions of mental discipline, while at the same time appreciating the need for warranted medical diagnosis and treatment."
- S. Nassir Ghaemi MD MPH Professor of Psychiatry, Director of Mood Disorders Program, Tufts Medical Center
"Tom is doing something no one else is really doing. He is turning a serious mental illness on its head and suggesting that by accepting rather than fighting the disorder, people with bipolar can identify and access their strengths and lead lives that are not only satisfying but productive beyond their wildest imaginings... Tom is ahead of the pack. He is staking out new territory and leading the way in showing people with brain-based disorders like bipolar that it is possible to live richly."
- Maureen Duffy Ph.D., Professor and Chairperson, The Counseling Program, Barry University
"Tom's message-and approach-is a welcome antidote to many, popular ideas about mental illness. He integrates sound, evidence-based tools (such as self-awareness, self-care, and medication) with an especially humane perspective. Too often, in having to accept their condition, people end up feeling pathologized-reduced from a full person to a label. But Tom looks beyond the diagnosis to help people embrace-and accept-the best parts of who they are, instead of reflexively dismissing their feelings and experiences as a simple manifestation of illness. I can't think of a more important ingredient to living with bipolar disorder-or any mental health difficulty."
- Craig Malkin, PhD, Clinical Instructor in Psychology, Harvard Medical School
"Near the end of my five years of major depression, I started the Bipolar Advantage on-line education program suite of courses - Concepts, Assessments, Assembling Tools, and Plan for Success. My knowledge of bipolar and depression conditions was expanded a thousand-fold, and this led me to come out on the other side of depression. I now have the wisdom and tools to put my depression in order and keep it in order. I have been a student of depression and bipolar for many years, and this course is the most comprehensive and useful treatment I have found on the internet or in bookstores. Tom Wootton has been blessed to put his bipolar condition in order, and now he is sharing that blessing with the rest of us."
- Patrick Day, Buffalo, MN, USA
"The general functionality assessments are wonderful! Why has nobody asked these kinds of questions before?"
- Larry Reilley, Oakview, CA, USA
"I was desperate for help and Bipolar IN Order delivered. I learned how to identify my feelings, the changes in my thinking during mood swings and my initial reactions to them. Realizing I had a choice in how to respond instead of just reacting was pivotal. This tool, combined with others, has morphed into a great practice for self examination in the IN Order stages. It is one of the components that taught me discipline and self-control throughout my journey to Bipolar IN Order. What I've learned will serve me well for the rest of my life. Life is finally good."
- Jeanette Chiapperino, Weeki Wachee, FL, USA
"[Bipolar IN Order] takes existing medical care and augments it to a promising new level for all patients and their loved ones. The combination of accessible information and executive level presentation is a very exciting development. His work in the field offers the most logical and exciting path to success in mental health today."
- Paul Cumming, San Diego, CA, USA
"For years I've been working with people that have struggled to live with the affects of bipolar disorder. Often they live in the hope that medication will cure all, or they've learned to inhibit themselves from trying new things in case they experience an extreme mood change. But I have always believed that there is another, more satisfying, way to live with bipolar, and that's why I'm really excited by what Tom and his team are doing at Bipolar Advantage. The online course is really comprehensive, with clear, interesting information which really does offer a different point of view of living with bipolar. The course can help you enhance your abilities by setting realistic goals and getting the right support when you need it, and ultimately, it will teach you to live an unbound life and not be shackled by an emotional, cognitive and behavioural life sentence that many health professionals would lead you to believe is the best you can hope for. I have no trouble recommending this course to anyone that has bipolar."
- Drew Coster, Psychotherapist, Surrey, UK.
