Bipolar No More: The Recovery Journey
Welcome to my podcast. This is intended for individuals with Bipolar Disorder and/or Anxiety issues that are looking for ways to further their recovery process. Where ever you are in your recovery process is fine. This is an ongoing podcast that will air every Wednesday beginning on May 24, 2023. It will cover a variety of tools and examples that can be used to help achieve a healthy recovery: physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Please come with an open mind and know that everyone is on their place on this journey. I bring with me 22 years of living in recovery from Bipolar I Disorder. Many of my thoughts and ideas come from years of personal experience. May they be helpful to you as well. I’ve written three books over the past several decades that may be of interest to you. The first is: ”Bipolar No More: A Memoir of Hope and Recovery” (2008); ”Meet My Bipolar Brain” (2011) a Children’s book available in English and Spanish; and ”Covid-19- The Mental Health Connection” (2021). All are available through contacting me at my e-mail address at: michelleholtby@gmail.com. The most important thing any of us can do on a daily basis is to show up. Pray and set the tone for your day. If you need help, reach out to support groups, pray and/or journal. Then relax and do the best you can. Trust that God will do the rest! And if you like what you heard today, please feel free to pass it along to other’s you know. I look forward to having you join me each week
with a new and informative podcast.
Listen on:
Episodes
Wednesday Mar 05, 2025
Wednesday Mar 05, 2025
Welcome back to WRAP Plan, Part 2. This week we will be visiting the different steps involved in breaking down ones plan. These include:
Daily maintenance activities
My triggers
Self care techniques (coping skills)
Early warning signs
Breaking down
Crisis intervention plan
Post crisis plan.
I will be discussing each section in detail. Please feel free to make your WRAP plan as personal as needed. As I mentioned last week, I include crisis intervention plan in fluorescent pink paper. Happy listening!
Thursday Feb 20, 2025
Thursday Feb 20, 2025
Today, I talk about a very important document that each of us should have in our files. It's called the WRAP plan and it stands for "Wellness Recovery Action Plan". This document when notarized is a legal binding form that can greatly exist to aid your family and doctors during either a medical or a psychiatric stay. I chose to discuss this now as recently I have encountered the urgency to have this document updated in what was a very unfortunate and unnecessary experience. Please take this to heart create your own WRAP plan.
To create your own WRAP plan, go to:
https://www.wellnessrecoveryactionplan.com/
Thursday Feb 06, 2025
Thursday Feb 06, 2025
Welcome everyone, today's podcast will be venturing into new areas and new ideas that I have experienced in hope and recovery. I share this information with you in hopes that you see things in a new light to perhaps began your recovery journey and give you hope. If it is beneficial to you, feel free to pass this podcast onto others. Happy listening!
Thursday Jan 09, 2025
Thursday Jan 09, 2025
Happy New Year family and friends, this is your host Michelle Holtby. I'm sure it has been a year of changes for all of us. As many as you know, a new year gives us new opportunities. We just have to be open to them. Don't forget, when you see an opportunity coming your way, its like a gift from God. Its like He is trying to get your attention by tapping you on the arm. He plants little clues for us, He wants us to find him. It's kind of like hide and seek. I look forward to returning this year starting fresh and ready for spring. Happy listening!
Wednesday Dec 25, 2024
Wednesday Dec 25, 2024
Merry Christmas, family and friends. May today be a joyous day for you and loved ones. For some of us, this year may have been a year of many trials. But with Gods love and guidance and time, we have learned to persevere. These tests God gives us, are to help us grow and become stronger on the inside. They are not fun, they are not easy and if you consider, its like putting a puzzle together. Let me be the first to tell you, I stink at puzzles. So sometimes it can take a lot longer to put the pieces in place. And please, no puzzles for me this year for Christmas. Merry Christmas and Happy listening!
Thursday Dec 12, 2024
Thursday Dec 12, 2024
With Christmas just weeks away, couldn't we all use a little more joy and happiness in our lives? This should be the season of love, laughter and time with friends and family. What if we were able to return to a simpler way of living were joy and happiness were at the forefront of our daily lives? I invite you to take a journey with me as we explore this very topic today. Happy listening!
Thursday Nov 28, 2024
Thursday Nov 28, 2024
I would like to share with you one of the best ways to get through the fall and winter months. And all it takes is time. The answer is community. Yours might be a neighborhood you live in, the church you attend, the places you walk your dog or your workplace. Today's podcast will explain these in more detail and just know this can be a challenging season for men and woman alike. Have faith and know that this season too will pass. Hope each and everyone of you have a Happy Thanksgiving. Happy listening!
Thursday Nov 14, 2024
Thursday Nov 14, 2024
Sometimes our treatment process requires that changes or additions being made to keep us a therapeutic level. It can come on quit suddenly as was my case with onset of a trauma, fortunately the steps I have taken and the changes made have been and continue to be beneficial. May todays podcast be informative and give some insite to your own journey. Please note from here on out, the podcast will air every 2 weeks with the next on being November 27th. Happy listening!
Thursday Oct 10, 2024
Thursday Oct 10, 2024
Join me today as I share 3 recent examples in my life how to slow down physically and mentally. It's a choice we each make as to how much and when we want to slow down. Happy listening!
Wednesday Oct 02, 2024
Wednesday Oct 02, 2024
We all have opportunities to make changes in our lives. Whether it is a relationship, a job or move, we all have options. I invite you to take this part of my journey with me as I explore options and continue my education. Happy Listening!
Now available for sale online!
Free shipping if you order 2 or more copies
To order, please send an e-mail to: michelleholtby@gmail.com
Cash or checks only
Bipolar No More: A Memoir of Hope and Recovery
Copyright 2008 Michelle J. Holtby
$19.95
This is my first published book written in 3 sections, Then, Now, and Always. Each section goes into detail about what my life was like before I was diagnosed, when I was hospitalized and what my recovery began to look like shortly thereafter. This book is written for anyone with a mental illness especially Bipolar I Disorder as well as family members, friends and those interested in learning more about mental illness.
A limited amount of this book is currently available in audio cd format. It has 6 cd's and the recording is done in Michelle's voice.
Copyright 2008 Michelle J. Holtby
$24.95
Meet My Bipolar Brain
Conoce Mi Cerebro Bipolar (avail. in Spanish)
2012 New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards Finalist
Copyright 2011 Michelle J.Holtby
$14.95
Meet Abby, a six year old who has Bipolar I Disorder. When I was very young, my parents took me to see a brain doctor (psychiatrist) who told me I had a mental illness that affects the way my brain works. He gave my parents my brain pills (psychiatric medications) that I need to take everyday to stay healthy. These pills are only for me and not to be shared. They make me well but can make other people very sick. They are like vitamins for my brain. That is what I call them so my brain will grow up like me, healthy and strong.
Take this journey with Abby as she goes through school with her classmates as well as activities she does throughout the week. This book is intended for families as well as classroom settings and is intended for those who have children with a mental illness especially Bipolar I Disorder.
Covid-19 and the Mental Health Connection
Copyright 2021 Michelle J. Holtby
$13.99
This memoir is written for anyone who has been touched by a mental illness and/or COVID-19 pandemic. It's a guide, a tool, a comforter, uses various coping techniques, and provides support and views from the secular and Christian world. Michelle invites you to take this one-of-a-kind journey to find hope, help and answers to your most asked questions. Her experiences living with Bipolar I Disorder for 22 years will bring you inner piece so that you, too, can find the answers you need for today, tomorrow and always.