You can read my full review and opinion on the matter here so I won't go into depth in this reply.

Yes, therapy can do wonders for those with Bipolar Disorder and most other mental illnesses, personality disorders and issues in personal lives. The difference between a UK Psychotherapist and a Community Psychiatric Nurse is an important distinction to make though. A psychotherapist often has a basic qualification, which in the UK doesn't currently have to be a particular degree or qualification. A community psychiatric nurse (CPN) is different - they are the people that the NHS employ to give CBT and DBT in most areas at both CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services) and the adult CMHT (Community Mental Health Team). These people are trained at degree level with a Nursing degree and then have specialised training in mental health and placements at the local CAMHS/CMHT, where they have to sit in appointments with patients of another mental health nurse or psychiatrist while on their course.

Sometimes, instead of seeing a CPN for CBT or DBT, you'll actually see a clinical psychologist who will have had a degree in psychology and a further three years of training in the field of psychology before they become fully qualified to practice in their role for the NHS. Counselling, psychotherapy and actual medical therapies (such as CBT) are different things. The most effective treatments, statistically speaking, are CBT and DBT when given by a qualified mental health nurse, CPN or clinical psychologist.

CBT and DBT can be effective when treating mental illnesses, including Bipolar Disorder. Often, the most effective treatment with someone with Bipolar is a mixture of behavioural therapies and medication - not one or the other. Personally, therapy did not help at all and it didn't help my Bipolar relatives either.

The biggest issue I had with Philippa Perry is that, as a psychotherapist, she is extremely biased and therefore shouldn't have been the main presenter of the documentary. She also isn't particularly qualified, which is why she didn't seem to understand Bipolar very well. And the only thing she had to say on Twitter after the program had aired and there was a huge backlash, was a tweet about her book. As far as I saw it, the documentary was a chance to promote her profession, services and her book by almost completely dismissing medication as a treatment.

There was very little in the way of qualified experts giving their views either. It was all very one - sided.

You can get an example of how little she knows by all the questions she had to ask. Including one where she asked a short featured doctor if medication can cure Bipolar, and then acting shocked at the fact that it can. I don't think any medical professional in the field has ever suggested Bipolar can be cured by medication. In fact, even though Bipolar Disorder is treatable can be manageable, it cannot be cured - the general consensus among researchers, patients and psychiatrists alike.