NAMI Ask the Expert: Bipolar Disorder: Advancements in Research & Treatment OD024

An on-demand video and transcript of the presentation are available here [opens in new tab].

About The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)

The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) is the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness. They are an alliance of more than 650 local Affiliates and 49 State organizations who work in your community to raise awareness and provide support and education to people with mental illness and their loved ones. Through awareness, advocacy and education, NAMI is committed to building stronger communities and a better future for everyone affected by mental illness.

Course Summary

This course, based on the Ask the Expert webinar series by NAMI, summarizes current science and practice for bipolar I and II disorders, organized into three parts: fast facts, interventions, and gaps/hope for the future. Content includes burden and epidemiology, common comorbidities, and age of onset, followed by evidence-based pharmacologic and psychosocial treatment strategies and measurement-based, team-oriented care. The session highlights lithium’s role in maintenance, anti-manic and antidepressant options, and practical monitoring considerations, with an emphasis on shared decision-making and persistence with treatment.

The course, with an intended audience of social workers, psychologists, marriage and family therapists, and counselors, then presents clinically applicable strategies for assessment, medication/psychotherapy coordination, and care planning that align with contemporary guidelines and real-world care models.

Course Format

This course contains a participant guide, practice test, and on-demand video (with a transcript and slide deck of the presentation).

Learning Objectives

1. Differentiate bipolar I and bipolar II presentations.
2. Describe evidence-supported pharmacologic options for mania and bipolar depression, including the maintenance role and monitoring considerations of lithium.
3. Apply measurement-based and team-oriented strategies to shared decision-making and ongoing care.

Course Syllabus

• Diagnosis and Course of Illness
• Evidence-Based Pharmacologic Treatments
• Measurement-Based and Shared Decision-Making
• Team-Oriented Care and Future Directions

Current References

Calabrese, J. R., Durgam, S., Satlin, A., Vanover, K. E., Davis, R. E., Chen, R., Kozauer, S. G., Mates, S., & Sachs, G. S. (2021). Efficacy and safety of lumateperone for major depressive episodes associated with bipolar I or bipolar II disorder: A phase 3 randomized placebo-controlled trial. American Journal of Psychiatry, 178(12), 1098–1109. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2021.20091339[opens in a new tab]

Keramatian, K., Chithra, N. K., & Yatham, L. N. (2023). The CANMAT and ISBD guidelines for the treatment of bipolar disorder: Summary and a 2023 update of evidence. Focus, 21(4), 344–353. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.focus.20230009[opens in new tab]

Nierenberg, A. A., Agustini, B., Köhler-Forsberg, O., Cusin, C., Katz, D., Sylvia, L. G., Peters, A., & Berk, M. (2023). Diagnosis and treatment of bipolar disorder: A review. JAMA, 330(14), 1370–1380. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2023.18588[opens in new tab]

Oliva, V., Fico, G., De Prisco, M., Gonda, X., Rosa, A. R., & Vieta, E. (2025). Bipolar disorders: An update on critical aspects. The Lancet Regional Health – Europe, 48, 101135. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lanepe.2024.101135[opens in new tab]

Popiolek, K., Bejerot, S., Landén, M., & Nordenskjöld, A. (2022). Association of clinical and demographic characteristics with response to electroconvulsive therapy in mania. JAMA Network Open, 5(6), e2218330. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.18330[opens in new tab]

Yıldız, A., Siafis, S., Mavridis, D., Vieta, E., & Leucht, S. (2023). Comparative efficacy and tolerability of pharmacological interventions for acute bipolar depression in adults: A systematic review and network meta-analysis. The Lancet Psychiatry, 10(9), 700–713. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(23)00199-2[opens in new tab]

Instructors

Andrew A. Nierenberg, MD, Director of Dauten Family Center for Bipolar Treatment Innovation, Massachusetts General Hospital

Dr. Andrew Nierenberg graduated from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, Bronx, NY. After completing his residency in psychiatry at New York University/Bellevue Hospital, he studied clinical epidemiology at Yale University as a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar. Dr. Nierenberg then joined the faculty at Harvard Medical School, first at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts, and then at Massachusetts General Hospital. He is also an Honorary Professor in the School of Medicine, Faculty of Health at Deakin University, Geelong, Australia (where he served as a Thinker in Residence), and an Honorary Skou Professor at Aarhus University in Denmark.

Dr. Nierenberg has published over 580 papers and has been listed in The Best Doctors in America or Top Doctors or Best Doctors in Boston for the treatment of mood and anxiety disorders every year since 1994. In 2000, he was awarded the Gerald L. Klerman Young Investigator Award, and in 2014 the Gerald L. Klerman Senior Investigator Award by the Depression Bipolar Support Alliance. In 2013, Dr. Nierenberg was awarded the prestigious Brain and Behavior Research Foundation Colvin Prize for outstanding achievement in mood disorders research.

Dr. Nierenberg’s primary interests are improving the use of existing treatments and finding innovative treatments for bipolar disorder. He lectures extensively nationally and internationally, teaches, supervises, maintains an active clinical practice, consults with industry, and conducts clinical trials funded by federal, foundation, industry, and philanthropic sources. He serves as a peer reviewer for over 35 psychiatric journals and he is a member of the editorial boards of over 15 journals.

Nicole Errickson, LCSW

Nicole is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) in the state of Georgia. She brings over 19 years experience in the social work field, primarily working in school systems as a school social worker and with the McKinney-Vento grant. Over her career, Nicole has had several opportunities to help develop and execute professional development events. Nicole has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of South Alabama and a Masters in Social Work from the University of Alabama.

Accreditation Approval Statements

CE4Less.com is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. CE4Less.com maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

CE4Less.com, provider #1115, is approved as an ACE provider to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. ACE provider approval period: 8/8/24-8/8/27.

Social workers completing this course receive 1 clinical continuing education credits.

We are committed to providing our learners with unbiased information. CE4Less never accepts commercial support and our authors have no significant financial or other conflicts of interest pertaining to the material.