I think the main thing about therpists is you have to find one that you feel comfortable with. Otherwise, it doesn't work out. I know the best therapist I had was a psychologist. She was excellent because she understood bipolar and wasn't one of those "happy puppy rainbow" people who think if you just think happy thoughts everything goes away.

Take care of yourself and hang in there. The thing about bipolar we can out on is the cycle always shifts, we just don't know when.

Mixed episodes are nearly constant for me. It's hard to say because I cycle so rapidly. But, I always seem to be in a more-or-less mixed state. Explosive episodes usually only last a few hours, though.