Helping Extremely Complicated Clients With Mood Disorders – HPP 32

Keith Kurlander, MA, LPC

Keith Kurlander, CEO of Higher Practice, explores the intricacies of working with clients who present with highly complex mood disorders. Often it’s assumed that it will take years to help someone out of a serious treatment-resistant form of anxiety, depression or bipolar state, however, there are a number of interventions that can have a great impact, especially if they haven’t been tried before.

Keith will discuss specific sleep hygiene techniques such as supplement cocktails, blue-light wavelength sensitivities, regulation of temperature, and exercise routines to combat hyper and hypo-insomnias. He presents an overview of the Adverse Childhood Study performed by Kaiser and its relevance to complicated clients, and also covers innovative interventions that most clients haven’t tried.

Most importantly, he presents a framework for the psychology of the stuck client and how to work with it.

Show Notes:

Mood disorders and sleep sensitivities [6:30]

The trifecta supplemental cocktail that helps people sleep [10:45]

Body regulation throughout the night [15:30]

Identify if trauma is a root cause of the disorder [26:00]

Psychological fixation of depression like an intoxication [33:00]

Bipolar mania as an avoidance of pain [35:00]