SOLD OUT:  A Masterclass for Parents of University Students with Bipolar Disorder

from Julie A. Fast

Two 2016 sessions available: 

Session One: This Session is Full

Date:       Sunday, August 7th                                                

Time:      10:00- 11:30 AM PST (PDT)

and…

Session Two: THIS SESSION IS FULL. 

Date:        Thursday, August 25th

Time:       8:00- 9:30 AM PST (PDT)

Masterclass Format: A 90 Minute Live Webinar with a private email question and answer session with Julie A. Fast. 

Is your child ready for the challenges of university life? My Masterclass: Back to School with Bipolar Disorder: Three Success Strategies for Parents of University Students with Bipolar Disorder has helped families around the world guide a child towards a degree and future success while staying stable, happy and healthy. 

It’s as simple as 1, 2, 3: Learn the three strategies all families can use to insure college success for students with bipolar disorder.  This 90 minute course shares my intimate knowledge of the struggles most people with bipolar disorder face in a school setting. This includes going to school for the first time or returning to school after a bipolar disorder episode. The goal of this class is to teach parents a system they can then share with a son or daughter who has bipolar disorder. Parents really do hold the key to school success when a child lives with a mood disorder.

Have you wondered…? 

• What usually happens when a child with bipolar disorder goes to school for the first time?
• How do I help my child navigate the drug and alcohol climate so prevalent in today’s college culture?
• How can I teach my child the importance of trigger management in bipolar disorder including getting enough sleep, limiting the partying and knowing the signs of a problem?
• How can I get my child to use the disability services at school without their feeling like a failure?
• How do I teach my child to handle the pressure of exams?
• What do we need to do before my child leaves for school to make sure medications are taken regularly if needed?
• What plan needs to be in place for bipolar disorder management in case my child gets sick while far from home?
• Should I tell the school about my child’s bipolar disorder?
• How do I set up a health care team on or near the campus?
• How can my child navigate the memory problems that sometimes come with bipolar disorder or as a side effect of medications?
• What can I do if my child doesn’t want my help and simply wants to go to school without a plan?

And much more…

This masterclass teaches you exactly how to prepare your child and the entire family for long term college success.

$$$ Flunking out of school due to bipolar disorder is expensive. I know as I did it twice and my parents paid the price. My parents (and grandparents) lost tens of thousands of dollars due to my bipolar disorder. I want to help you choose a better path than the one I took on my way to a university degree.  

You will learn exactly what I have taught hundreds of parents and thousands of people with bipolar disorder over the past 15 years regarding school and bipolar disorder. I know the mistakes that make situations worse and the plan that needs to be in place to help a child graduate.

Parents need tools to start important conversations before school begins, especially with kids who often feel everything will be just fine… IF YOU WOULD JUST LEAVE ME ALONE AND LET ME GO TO SCHOOL! 

Whether your child is overconfident that school will not affect her bipolar disorder or under confident and scared that his bipolar disorder will ruin the experience, there is a middle ground where people with this illness can attend school successfully.

Join the class today and insure a bright future for the student in your life. Please note that this masterclass is not only for parents; it can help anyone who supports a student with bipolar disorder including grandparents, siblings and other family members.  I also welcome all health care professionals who wish to join the call.

Cost: $97.00  SOLD OUT for 2016 

Please contact Julie if you would like to do this class as a private session. Julie is currently creating a workbook based off of this class. Julie can be reached at JulieFastBooksatgmaildotcom. Please write Back to School Class in the subject line for more information.

Julie also has a newsletter for parents. Please send an email with Parent Newsletter in the subject line to be added to Julie’s mailing list.

Class size is limited to ten participants. Couples are welcome. All participants receive the 90 minute online webinar as well as a one on one email session where I answer a specific question about your child’s situation. This is the benefit of listening to the call live. The class also includes a handbook of information you can share with your child after the class. 

Who is Julie A. Fast?  MEET THE TEACHER

My name is Julie A. Fast. I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder two with psychotic features in 1995. If diagnosed today, I would receive a schizo affective disorder diagnosis. I’m a four time bestselling author on the topic of bipolar disorder, schizo affective disorder, anxiety and psychosis. I work as a family and partner coach and regularly train health care professionals on bipolar disorder management. I have worked with companies, mental health agencies and treatment facilities around the world to change the way bipolar disorder is treated and managed. I lived with a partner for ten years who has bipolar disorder one. I’m an original columnist for Bp Magazine, blogger for Psychology Today , a mental health expert for the Oprah, Dr. Oz website Sharecare.com, a regular contributor to magazines such as People, US and Newsweek and have devoted my life to helping people manage bipolar disorder successfully. Oh, and I was also the original consultant for Claire Danes on Homeland. 

 And……. I flunked out of college twice- went to four different universities and it took me eight years to get a degree. The majority of people with untreated bipolar disorder have a similar history, though few actually finish college. I don’t want your child to go through what I and my family went though due to unmanaged bipolar disorder.

It’s amazing for me to think back to the absolute horror I went through when I got sick my first year of university. There was no help! Flunking out was inevitable. It’s so different now. There is help and your child can succeed. 

 You’re Never too Old to Learn

I’m also currently going to school to learn French at age 52 and have been amazed at how many skills I need daily to navigate university life, especially while surrounded by 18 year old kids! I have tried and tested all of the information in this class in the past few months alone and can verify it works.  My bipolar disorder is pretty active and I have managed to stay stable using the plan I teach in this masterclass.   

 Ah, a blast from the past. Here I am during my former radio show. I’m excited to share my research and personal experience around the often emotional topic of bipolar disorder and university life.  A large part of my coaching client base contacts me AFTER a child goes to college and flunks out due to bipolar disorder.  Over the years, I had to create a plan my clients could use to help a child maintain stability while getting a degree.  Bipolar disorder is a cruel illness. It reacts to positive stress in the same way it reacts to negative stress. The university experience is seen as a positive for many families, but I’m here to explain that bipolar disorder simply sees college life as a stressful situation that can change brain chemistry and control the mood. Just as working people with bipolar disorder must manage their hours and environment, students with bipolar disorder must be ready for the reality of university life in order to stay stable and ultimately get their degree. 

The Back to School with Bipolar Disorder 

 LESSON PLAN

Participants will sign into the webinar and receive a live experience while I teach the following success strategies:

Success Strategy #1. Create a Bipolar Disorder Management Plan Before School Begins. In this section, I share exactly what I have found works to keep a person stable at school. This includes exploring what help is available on campus, creating a heath care team, starting a symptom management plan, how to look for and avoid triggers, effective lifestyle changes around sleep and relationships and finally, tips on how the family can work together to keep a person stable when he or she is not living at home. I also talk openly about the cognitive difficulties many of us with bipolar disorder face when we are in an episode. 

Success Strategy #2: Prepare Ahead for Life at School.  We will discuss the realities of living arrangements, class work, romantic situations, drinking and drugs, peer pressure, schedules, exams, on campus health care and more. It’s hard to know how a child will react to such a new environment. Having a flexible plan ready that can change and grow with the student is the goal. This is especially true if a child is on medications and needs to coordinate health care around a class schedule. The question of whether to tell fellow students and teachers about bipolar disorder is discussed as well. 

 Success Strategy #3: Expect and Prepare for a Crisis.  This is the most important part of the class in terms of staying in school. Nothing really matters if you can’t manage a crisis. Expecting a child to attend university without getting sick at some point is more of a dream than a reality. When a child gets sick at school, having a plan in place that goes into action immediately is the secret to saving money, saving a school year and of course, saving your child. It is possible to prevent disasters.  I will share exactly what works and what doesn’t work in these situations. Of course, the goal is prevention, but bipolar disorder doesn’t care how much you WANT your child to stay stable. A child with bipolar disorder at school is a recipe for mood swings. If you expect the inevitable, you can be ready for anything.

I will also address the situation of a child going back to school after an episode. This takes separate skills and can be tricky. Having a health care team in place becomes paramount in these situations. Setting this up takes a plan, especially when a child simply wants to forget what happened and return to school as though everything is fine. 

You can learn to talk to your child about school and bipolar disorder in a reasonable and effective way. And most importantly, you can learn to set reasonable and attainable goals that take bipolar disorder into account.

WHAT PARTICIPANTS SAY ABOUT THIS MASTERCLASS

“ We contacted Julie after our son Joshua had a manic episode during his second year of college and was sent home by the school.  We lost the money for the entire year and were truly struggling with his desire to go back to school after his hospitalization and how we were possibly going to protect him and help him manage this illness from so far away.  He spent the summer depressed in his room, unsure about his future and unable to see any way he was going to wrap his considerable brain around his chemistry degree after a bipolar disorder diagnosis.

Working with Julie changed EVERYTHING. (Thank you Julie!) She explained what he was going through. Understood what we were going through and then worked with us to create a plan specifically for Joshua. He didn’t listen to us when we first tried to talk with him about our concerns. Julie then taught us the exact language to use when talking to Joshua about money and our deep worries about his school life and the choices he made during his first and second years… and he was able to change!

Julie wrote and asked for a testimony for her new class. I’m writing this from the end of Joshua’s third year in college. We use Julie’s plan daily.  He is not on the path we thought he would follow. He has made changes to suit what he can actually handle around having this illness- including the hard reality that finishing school in four years simply isn’t going to happen. The day he talked with disability services at school was like a birthday for us! He is doing more than surviving and lately has even talked about using his chemistry background in the psychology world.

What Julie teaches isn’t easy.  His father and I had to change ourselves just as much as Joshua had to change his behaviors due to the diagnosis. But I can say that there is a good chance we are happier now than before his diagnosis. We have hope. Joshua has a future.

Julie! Good luck with this wonderful class. It has been an honor working with you and I wish you luck in your French studies!

Melissa V.

Bozeman, Montana

***

There is HOPE. You truly can learn proven strategies the entire family can use to help a child with bipolar disorder attend college and create a strong and stable future.

A final quote from a class participant:

“Julie, I feel you saved our family. We had this lofty idea that our daughter would finish her B.S and then sail through medical school. She really is that smart.  I still remember the day I realized this was not going to happen.  You have helped us deal with the grief of my daughter’s diagnosis and then turned us down a different path that I never, ever thought would work.  We had to change everything that we believed about school. We had to change our expectations around what she could and couldn’t do- that was the hardest thing for her mother.  Parents have children and think of their futures as though they are set in stone. We will raise her this way and pay for the the best school and she will have the life she loves thanks to our hard work. Nothing happened this way Julie, as you know. Bipolar disorder ripped up everything- it’s like it took the college degree and laughed at us! But guess what Julie. Elizabeth is back in school just like you said. She is doing what we discussed on our calls and is happy again. Nothing is what we expected, but we have learned that it’s ok when plans change. That is the nature of this illness. My favorite quote from you- one that I actually put near my computer is ‘It doesn’t matter how long it takes to reach a goal when you have bipolar disorder. What matters is that you have a goal and can work towards it at your own pace. This means it will eventually happen.”  That is right. It’s happening.  Thank you Julie!

Jack M.

Portland, Oregon

Ordering information:

Cost: $97.00  Please write Julie at JulieFastBooksatGmaildotcom for more information on an individual session with Julie. 

             Studying French, dealing with bipolar disorder and loving life.

Julie

PS:  Please note that this class is also available as a private session. Please send me an email at Julie Fast Coaching using (gmail) for details. You can also email me with any questions you may have.  A note for international participants- simply add 8 hours ahead of the call for the United Kingdom. I look forward to meeting everyone!