Mood disorders sit at the center of nearly every caseload you'll ever carry. Depression, bipolar disorder, and the conditions that travel alongside them are among the most common reasons clients walk through your door, and getting the diagnosis and treatment plan right can change the entire course of someone's life. PESI offers comprehensive, evidence-based mood disorder training featuring respected clinical voices like Chris Aiken, MD, and James Phelps, MD, giving you the diagnostic clarity and practical interventions to treat depression, bipolar disorder, and the full mood spectrum with confidence.
Whether you're sharpening your differential diagnosis skills, learning how to safely factor medication into your treatment planning, or pursuing certification as a mood disorder specialist, our trainings meet you where you are and grow with your practice. Every course includes Continuing Education (CE) credits, so you can deepen your clinical skill set while meeting your licensing requirements.
Whether you work in private practice, community care, or any setting where women seek support – or you’re a woman navigating this stage yourself – this training gives you the language and tools you ne
Why this training is important
Mood disorders are among the most misdiagnosed and under-treated conditions in behavioral health, largely because they rarely show up in tidy, textbook form. Major Depressive Disorder, Persistent Depressive Disorder, Bipolar I Disorder, Bipolar II Disorder, and Cyclothymic Disorder each carry their own diagnostic nuances, and many clients present with overlapping features that make differential diagnosis genuinely difficult. A client who looks depressed on the surface may actually be cycling through an unrecognized hypomanic pattern, and treating that presentation with the wrong protocol can do real harm.
That's why strong mood disorder training goes beyond the DSM-5 checklist. Clinicians need practical tools for distinguishing bipolar spectrum presentations from unipolar depression, screening measures they can trust, and treatment frameworks that hold up when a client doesn't respond to the first, second, or third intervention. Effective training also treats mood disorders as more than a diagnosis to manage. It equips you with real strategies, from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Rumination-Focused CBT to Social Rhythm Therapy and lifestyle-based interventions, so your clients can move from surviving their symptoms to building a life that supports lasting stability.
Because mood disorders so often coexist with anxiety, trauma, substance use, and other clinical concerns, this training also connects naturally to the broader work you're already doing. You'll walk away with sharper assessment skills, a deeper understanding of medication considerations and when to refer, and a toolbox of interventions you can put to use with your very next client.
Expert Voices
PESI partners with clinicians who have spent their careers in the trenches of mood disorder treatment and research, so you're learning from people who understand both the science and the day-to-day reality of practice.
Chris Aiken, MD, is a psychiatrist and psychotherapist who directs the Mood Treatment Center, serves as Editor-in-Chief of The Carlat Psychiatry Report, and hosts the Carlat Psychiatry Podcast. His work focuses on natural, lifestyle-informed approaches to mood disorders, and he brings a research-grounded, practical lens to treating the full mood spectrum, including treatment-resistant depression.
James Phelps, MD, has spent over a decade focused on non-manic and "soft" presentations of bipolar disorder, the cases most likely to be misread as depression alone. He is the author of Why Am I Still Depressed? Recognizing and Managing the Ups and Downs of Bipolar II and Soft Bipolar Disorders and helped author the diagnostic criteria revisions for bipolar spectrum disorders through the International Society for Bipolar Disorders.
Catherine Pittman, PhD, HSPP, brings neuroscience-based clarity to the anxiety that so often complicates mood disorder treatment. A professor of psychology and author of Rewire the Anxious Brain, she's known for making complex brain science accessible and clinically actionable.
Explore free clinical tools, worksheets, and expert insights on assessing and treating depression, bipolar disorder, and mood spectrum conditions. These resources are developed alongside leading voices like Chris Aiken, MD and James Phelps, MD, and are designed to help you apply what you learn with real clients right away.
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