Coping with Coronavirus

Peter ForsterSelf Care Leave a Comment

For the past two weeks we have been collecting stories from our patients. Some of them are doing well in the face of the turbulence caused by coronavirus and some of them are struggling. We decided to collect stories from those who are doing well in order to identify ways of coping with this stress and perhaps have some suggestions …

Crisis Resources in the Bay Area

Peter ForsterOther Psychiatric Disorders, Self Care Leave a Comment

Colleagues at UCSF shared this list of resources for people in a crisis in the Bay Area. We share this here in the hope that it can be helpful. Please let us know if there are corrections or updates… Alameda National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: Call 1-800-273-TALK Substance Use Treatment & Referral Helpline: 1-844-682-7215 Crisis Support Services Suicide Prevention: (800) 309-2131 …

Exercise and Mental Health – A Therapist’s Guide

Peter ForsterBipolar Treatment, Self Care, Treatments of Depression Leave a Comment

This is a great resource from Psychology Tools, with a huge amount of information about the use of exercise in treatment of mental illness, and a long bibliography of articles describing evidence related to the use of exercise, impact of physical exercise on mental health, ways of encouraging clients to exercise, and biological, psychological and social mechanisms by which exercise …

Bipolar Workbook from Gateway Psychiatric

Peter ForsterBipolar Treatment, GPS Update, Self Care Leave a Comment

Gateway Psychiatric Services is excited to announce the release of our latest book: The Bipolar Disorder Workbook from Callisto Media. Designed to educate and motivate people who have questions, particularly about Bipolar II and cyclothymia, the workbook walks users through a series of structured exercises, beginning with a basic checklist intended to identify symptoms that may warrant further investigation. The …

Foundations of Wellbeing

Foundations of Wellbeing

Peter ForsterSelf Care Leave a Comment

In the beginning of this year we sent out an invitation to our patient’s to sign up for the Foundations of Wellbeing program developed by neuroscientist Rick Hanson and were very pleased by the response. Since then we’ve been hearing from those who signed up that the program has had a significant effect on their mental health. A representative comment …

Bipolar 101 An Online Course

Peter ForsterAbout GPS, Bipolar Treatment, GPS Update

Bipolar 101, an online course hosted by Gateway Psychiatric begins March 17, 2017: Bipolar 101 – The Basics and Beyond. The class is based on the acclaimed Barcelona Bipolar Disorders Program. Bipolar 101 – An online course will cover topics such as: It will be taught by Dr. Peter Forster and Gina Gregory, and will have an interactive format with plenty of …

UCSF Bipolar Education Group Starts Again

Peter ForsterBipolar Treatment, Self Care

Dr. Descartes Li, an expert in Bipolar Disorder at UCSF runs an excellent 8 session program for people with bipolar who are interested in learning more. Here is the latest information about the group which starts at the end of February. The UCSF bipolar psychoeducational group starts on February 27, 2017. It runs for 8 sessions, Mondays 12pm to 115pm. …

Meditation Tricks

Peter ForsterSelf Care

Most of us in the Gateway Clinic have been encouraging our patients to take up meditation for years.  We will explain how it works, and what the benefits are, we’ll suggest books on the topic, recommend guided meditation sources, follow up on those recommendations, and follow up, and follow up… And yet, this has been an exercise in frustration.  Very rarely …