Social Skills Treatment for Bipolar II

Bipolar II is a brain disorder that impacts mood, resulting in changes in mood, energy and capacity to function. It differs from Bipolar I in that it is most often characterized by a pattern of depressive episodes shifting back and forth with sudden but brief manic episodes. Full-blown manic or mixed episodes rarely occur. Symptoms can be very difficult, resulting in relationship, as well as work and school, problems. Treatment most often consists of medication and psychotherapy. Social skills training offers one such psycho-therapeutic form of treatment.

Purpose of Social Skills Training

• The purpose of social skills training is to assist those with Bipolar II to further develop the interpersonal skills necessary for engaging in appropriate social interactions. Goals may include helping the individual to learn how to engage in "small talk" with others, maintain eye contact, and recognize and interpret social cues and signals. It is hoped that Bipolar II individuals will be able to use acquired skills to improve their social interactions in diverse situations while improving their self esteem and capacity to function in everyday life.

Setting, Structure and Format

• Social skills training can be offered to individuals with Bipolar II in a number of different settings, including school, mental health facilities and private practice. It can offered in either group or individual sessions, with some recommendations suggesting that basic social skills be taught individually initially.

  Groups offer opportunities for increased role-playing and feedback opportunities as compared to individual sessions and may be of greater benefit as a consequence. Sessions are structured with activities that are focused on specific social skill development. Each session follows a format of warm-up activities, instruction, demonstration, role-playing, feedback, and homework/rehearsal.

Instruction, Demonstration and Role-Playing

• When providing social skills training to individuals with Bipolar II, it is important to follow the steps associated with traditional models of this intervention, as it will help to increase opportunities for successful learning and skill development. Instruction, demonstration and role-playing are the initial steps. These steps are fairly easy to implement and consist of the following as identified in an article by Stephen Smith in ERIC Digest:

  1) Clearly introduce and define the skill via instruction;
  2) The instructor/therapist should then model the skill defined and the steps an individual must use in carrying out the skill; and,
  3) Individuals should then have the opportunity to role-play the skill in order to gain practice in using it.

Feedback and Homework/Rehearsal

• The next steps in the process include providing feedback and setting up opportunities for homework and rehearsal, by which the individual gains practice in using social skills learned. These steps are equally important in increasing learning and skill acquisition. Once role-playing has occurred, group members and the therapist provide positive feedback and suggestions to strengthen understanding of the skill. After this, individuals are given homework that allows them to use the newly learned skill outside of the training in order to gain further practice in using the skill in real situations and interactions.

Assessing Progress

• Assessing progress is an important component of social skills training. For individuals with Bipolar II, who are faced with its ongoing severe impact on everyday activities and relationships, it is critically important that the social skills learned are frequently assessed and evaluated. Only through continuing opportunities for assessing progress and fine-tuning as well as re-learning can those with bipolar disorder II strengthen the skills needed to lead relatively normal lives.