Our Speakers

Tom Wootton - President, Bipolar Advantage

Tom Wootton is the author of "The Bipolar Advantage" and "The Depression Advantage" in both book and video. He developed new concepts that he integrated into the first Bipolar In Order workshops in 2002. Since that time he has developed a series of workshops dealing with depression and bipolar. He has been considered a leading consumer advocate and speaker and has been giving talks to consumer groups, mental health leaders, and doctors. He is giving keynote speaches to conferences nationwide on mental health.

Tom's approach to dealing with mental illness and his professional and engaging speaking style have made his talks a 'must' for consumers, family, friends, mental health workers and therapists.

Tom Wootton brings many professional credits to his talks and workshops. He specialized in advanced, accelerative learning systems for many years, which he taught to corporations and schools. He worked in development and training for many internet technology companies. His clients included: Visa, PoepleSoft, Network Associates, HP, Cisco, Baan, Ford, Nortel, Deloitte Consulting, KPMG, Lucent, Sage, Ericsson, Fidelity Investments, British Telecom, NSA, AT&T, Charles Schwab, Nokia, Siemens, EDS, and many more worldwide.

Clients in 2006 include NAMI organizations nationwide, Kaiser Permanente, Orange County Behavioral Health, Riverside County Older Adult Services, Mental Health Associations throughout California, and DBSA at state and national levels.


Maureen Duffy, Ph.D.

Maureen Duffy is a professor of counseling and family therapy and a practicing couples and family therapist. She is highly regarded in the marriage and family therapy world and is on the editorial boards of The Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, The Family Journal, and The Journal of Systemic Therapies. She is the Co-Editor of The Qualitative Report, a journal dedicated to qualitative research and inquiry. She is also the Co-Editor of the "Family and Health" column in The Family Journal. Maureen is a co-founder of the International Institute for Human Understanding and of Open U - a new adventure in education for anyone interested in increasing their understanding of interpersonal and inter-cultural relations.

She has presented her work at major professional conferences regionally, nationally, and internationally. In 2006, Maureen was an invited speaker at the Oxford University Round Table on the Psychology of the Child. She is the author of numerous publications in family therapy and qualitative research and her current interests are in the areas of positive psychology, applications of neuroscience to clinical work with couples and families, neurofeedback, and group behavior in the workplace.

Maureen is fascinated by how the brain is shaped by what we think and do and by how often we think and do it. She takes very seriously the fact that the brain changes throughout life and that the direction of those changes is influenced by the quality of our relationships, our behaviors, and our thoughts and feelings. Maureen is personally and professionally committed to breaking the link between the diagnosis of a mental illness and the taking on of the traditional identity of a mentally ill person. She believes that mood disorders like bipolar and major depression are brain disorders, not personal identities, and not primary careers. Her work also extends, with humor and compassion, to the parents and friends and families of those diagnosed with mood disorders.

Look for Maureen's new book for parents, friends, and families of those with mood disorders in Spring of 2008.


Peter Russell M.A., D.C.S.

Peter Russell is a fellow of the Institute of Noetic Sciences, of The World Business Academy and of The Findhorn Foundation, and an Honorary Member of The Club of Budapest.

At Cambridge University (UK), he studied mathematics and theoretical physics. Then, as he became increasingly fascinated by the mysteries of the human mind he changed to experimental psychology. Pursuing this interest, he traveled to India to study meditation and eastern philosophy, and on his return took up the first research post ever offered in Britain on the psychology of meditation.

He also has a post-graduate degree in computer science, and conducted there some of the early work on 3-dimensional displays, presaging by some twenty years the advent of virtual reality.

In the mid-seventies Peter Russell joined forces with Tony Buzan and helped teach "Mind Maps" and learning methods to a variety of international organizations and educational institutions.

Since then his corporate programs have focused increasingly on self-development, creativity, stress management, and sustainable environmental practices. Clients have included IBM, Apple, Digital, American Express, Barclays Bank, Swedish Telecom, ICI, Shell Oil and British Petroleum.

His principal interest is the deeper, spiritual significance of the times we are passing through. He has written several books in this area -- The TM Technique, The Upanishads, The Brain Book, The Global Brain Awakens, The Creative Manager, The Consciousness Revolution, Waking Up in Time, and From Science to God.

As one of the more revolutionary futurists Peter Russell has been a keynote speaker at many international conferences, in Europe, Japan and the USA. His multi-image shows and videos, The Global Brain and The White Hole in Time have won praise and prizes from around the world. In 1993 the environmental magazine Buzzworm voted Peter Russell "Eco-Philosopher Extraordinaire" of the year.


Peter Forster MD

Dr. Peter Forster is a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco, an editor of "Emergency Psychiatry" the publication of the American Association for Emergency Psychiatry, Past President of the Northern California Psychiatric Society, and a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association.

Dr. Forster specializes in the assessment of the standard of care in suicidal and crisis patients. An internationally respected expert, he has written many articles on: psychiatric emergencies, mood disorders, anxiety, somatization and managed care.

In his private practice, Dr. Forster specializes in the evaluation and treatment of adult depression, bipolar disorder (manic-depression), anxiety, panic disorders, phobias and stress reactions.

I believe that caring and respectful relationships are the basis for any kind of healing. In my work with patients I view what we do together as a collaboration. You are the expert in yourself and your feelings, I bring to that collaboration the expertise from my academic experience and training as well as from the care of thousands of patients with similar problems, together we create a treatment plan that will lead to a sustained recovery from a mood or anxiety disorder.


Scott Sullender Ph.D.

Scott Sullender is an ordained minister, a licensed Psychologist (#8931) and a Diplomate with the American Association of Pastoral Counselors.  He has over 35 years of professional experience as a pastor, pastoral counselor, organizational executive, psychologist and author/writer.  He has made a specialty of providing psychological and career assessments for Protestant ministers and seminarians.  Scott serves as the chief administrator of The Lloyd Center. In addition to his work with counseling and assessments, Scott is the primary instructor in the center's Doctor of Ministry in Pastoral Care and Counseling program.  Consequently, he holds the rank of Associate Professor of Pastoral Counseling at San Francisco Theological Seminary. In his free time, he enjoys swimming, hiking and bicycling in beautiful Marin where he lives with his wife of 38 years.


Brian Wetzel - President, Wetzel Productions

Brian Wetzel was a professional comedian and speaker whose career and personal life were absorbed by his 20 year struggle with clinical depression and subsequent addiction. Finally, after ending up at an emergency psychiatric clinic, Brian had to make direct eye contact with depression just to survive. After a visit with a psychiatrist who had a thick French accent, he started finding humor in a disorder that had once threatened his life. In his shows and keynote presentations, Brian blends his experiences with depression with his stage experience and takes his audiences on a unique journey of laughter, truth, and hope. By walking side by side with the affliction, he has learned to survive, strive, and move forward.

Brian has a website that covers his one man show called "Side by Side - A Journey with Depression: A Funny Look at Survival" at http://www.wetzelproductions.com


Please contact us if you are interested in having any of our speakers for your group. You can use the same contact page to have us add you to our list so that we can let you know when events happen in your area. You can also check out our schedule of events.

"Tom would make a wonderful keynote speaker or lecturer in one of the workshops. Although his topic is mainly about bipolar, his techniques can be applied to anyone, ill or well. It is a lecture that both clients and family members alike would want to attend."

Candace Jackson
Vice President
NAMI Thousand Oaks