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Check Out BipolarShe.com to Register For Janine's Writing class. Starts September 13.

Enjoy this Summer Remix of Kathleen Adams' Episode "Journaling for Your Bipolar Brain."

Can journaling help your mental health—or sometimes make things worse? Journal therapy pioneer Kathleen Adams explains why unstructured free writing can become overwhelming for people dealing with trauma, dissociative disorders, depression, anxiety, mood disorders, or other intense emotional states. She shares how structure, pacing, and containment can make journaling safer and more useful, including techniques like sentence stems, brief sensory-based “captured moments,” reflection writing, and knowing when to stop.

We also talk about what writing can look like during mania and depression, why “rage on the page” may help in some moments but deepen distress in others, and how to recognize when journaling is helping you process an experience versus pushing you further into it. Adams explains why writing does not have to be positive, polished, or even kept—and why tearing up a page can sometimes be part of the process.

The episode also explores journal therapy, expressive writing, trauma recovery, dissociative identity disorder, bipolar disorder, depression, mania, emotional regulation, and neuroplasticity—with practical ideas for using writing as a mental health tool without simply writing yourself deeper into the pain.

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Bipolar She is dedicated to real conversations for women living with mental illness. Hosted by Janine Noel, the majority of episodes give voice to a woman who has lived-life experience with mental illness--or who has experienced the illness of someone close to them. Along the way, I interview experts in the field that address additional mental health concerns.

Frankly, coping with a mental health condition can be exhausting. Here's a place where you can land and find an episode that resonates with you. Some topics we've covered: being a bipolar mom or having a bipolar mom. Anxiety, agoraphobia, chronic depression, ECT, borderline personality disorder, ADHD, a psychiatrist that breaks your trust. A therapist who goes above and beyond to help you. The impact of trauma on your brain.

Bipolar She couldn't have thrived without guitarist, JD Cullum's original music.

Editor Brandon Moran makes everyone's voice sound both crisper and smarter.

Sponsored by Amy Vincze's Emotional Freedom Technique App: Soar With Tapping.