Join me in creating kinder work for bipolar folk
Through workplace training, workshops and webinars, and lived experience content.
Do you want to understand bipolar, be more inclusive and reduce stigma?
But don’t want technical, textbook, or tedious?
Rethink what's possible with bipolar
Creating inclusive, kind and healthy workplaces
Gain a greater understanding of bipolar and neurodiversity, by booking me to speak at your workplace.
- Develop psychologically safe spaces for all employees
- Improve the performance and creativity of your team
- Break down barriers and dispel myths
- Create a more informed and compassionate culture
- Raise greater awareness and acceptance of neurodiversity, particularly bipolar, in professional settings
- Make a difference with simple strategies and insights for supporting people through mental distress
- Feel comfortable learning new information and asking questions as I share my story in a gentle, supportive and safe way
- Inspire hope that there is a way through intensely challenging experiences
- Foster empathy towards those experiencing mental distress and see the person and humanity behind a diagnosis or label
I want workplace training
Calling budding business owners with bipolar
Do you want to give entrepreneurship or self-employment a go but you’re concerned it might hurt your mental health?
My workshops and webinars support you to:
- Define what matters to you. What do you care about? What is holding you back?
- Learn how to set up your routine, environment and structures to support your wellbeing.
- Find your people and be inspired to build your business village, including who to turn to for ongoing support and guidance.
- Feel ready and inspired with the start of a plan, including your next best steps.
Curious about life with bipolar?
I share my story to help people who live with bipolar, and those who love, lead and look after us feel more informed. Together we can create a kinder, more compassionate and destigmatised world.
I’m happy to share my story across a variety of channels including:
- Podcasts
- Radio interviews
- Academia: for your research/studies including as a guest lecturer
- Keynote speaker/panellist
I want to learn more about bipolar
Hungry for more human, hopeful stories?
I’m a poet, self-published author, and Substack creator who writes with warmth, humour and smarts.
Clever organisations and individuals also choose me for their long-form content. I’m an experienced copywriter, blogger, and ghost writer.
- Read my pocketbook
- Enjoy my poetry and essays
- Subscribe to my Substack
I want you to write for me
World Bipolar Day
To observe World Bipolar Day on 30th March, each year I organise a bunch of events.
Meet Katie Rickson
Kia ora!
I’m Katie Rickson. I’ve been sharing my story of mental distress and recovery since 2017, a year after I was officially diagnosed with bipolar. I help you rethink what’s possible with bipolar.
Looking for a first-hand account of life with bipolar that’s powerful, vulnerable and eye-opening in equal measure?
When you don’t want someone to shy away from the hard parts but not leave you in that yucky space, either.
When you deeply want to get to the good part – the part where everyone feels like they can bring their real and best selves to work and life without fear of repercussions or the need to mask.
Looking for a personal account of bipolar not dragged straight from a textbook or delivered in scary or boring-speak?
You’re in the right place.
Why book a lived experience speaker?
Your team are people first and you never know what someone is going through.
It’s important to raise awareness of bipolar and the strategies, techniques and rhythms that are helpful – so you can feel equipped to support yourself and each other.
You might think you can ask your staff to share their story – but they may not feel comfortable with that degree of vulnerability or exposure. Nobody should feel pressured to disclose their diagnosis to their leaders or colleagues.
I have the experience and strategies to share my story in a way that’s safe for me and your team.
Book Katie to deliver a presentation on identifying bipolar, and real insights and strategies to improve mental health and wellbeing – at work and at home.
During a jam-packed 90 minutes, you’ll discover:
- My lived experience story and some sobering stats.
- What bipolar, mania and depression can look and feel like.
- When positivity, consistency and resilience turn toxic including what not to say and what to say.
- How to hold space for each other including asking curious and compassionate questions.
- Self-care, self-compassion and sensory regulation techniques.
- How to support each other and our collective responsibility.
- Ways to reframe bipolar – including neurodiversity and a strengths-based lens.
- Different therapeutic options – there’s a modality for everyone.
- What else can the “A” stand for in MHAW – moving from awareness to action and accommodations at work.
- Important numbers and resources for further reading.
Powerful impact for your team and their loved ones
“It was a truly powerful presentation! Your journey through your lived experience helped me deeply understand not only the challenges of bipolar, but also the positive elements you’ve encountered. Our team had a varied understanding at the start, and your story took us through it in such a gentle and supportive way that everyone felt comfortable learning new information and asking questions.
Hearing your first-hand account was a true source of positivity, motivation, and inspiration. It really highlighted the “light at the end of the tunnel.” I shared your story with my whānau as a poignant reminder that these challenging experiences can lead to positive outcomes.
I believe this is a positive way to break down barriers for the community. It can help dispel misconceptions and remove the stigma attached to bipolar and other forms of neurodivergence through better education and understanding.”
“It was very insightful to hear a different perspective of the story that we, as paramedics, don’t often get to hear due to the limited time spent with patients. It was very humbling to hear the personal story, opposed to the medical ifs, whys, and treatments etc.
The part of your presentation I found most valuable was the things that help (and things to avoid) when it comes to communication.
I would recommend your services because it was very well presented with a great balance of delivery content.”
*Both of these reviews are from Drowning Prevention Auckland
Featured or presented here:
Tales on Queen Street (Auckland Writers Anthologies Book 6)
Service User Academia Symposium 2017: University of Otago
Guest lecturer at Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington (every year since 2018)
Sell with Confidence By Natalie Tolhopf
The Poetical Lobe
Tax Traders
(winners of 2024 Best Place to Work in Aotearoa)
Logos
Testimonial
Read my reviews
“We were invited to listen to your journey as Tax Traders & Taxi cares deeply about wellbeing and how we can best support ourselves. We also wanted to raise the awareness of bipolar amongst our team. It was powerful to hear your experience first-hand and a real eye-opener into what it’s like to live with bipolar. You captivated the team with your story and we all learnt so much from you sharing. You were very honest, raw and you inspired me. I wouldn’t normally be so open with someone I just met but your presentation gave me that ability to feel safe.
“When you shared your stories, I finally understood what my family member went through. Thank you for giving me the ability to see them in a different way. I appreciated the workbook that was sent through prior to you speaking. The section on “when I want to self-destruct, I create”. was most valuable to me, and the sensory section is great when we need to find our groundings and feel safe. It’s important for workplaces to understand that employees are people first and you never know what someone is battling. It’s also important for us as individuals to know what to look out for or identify when someone is struggling. I could relate to a lot you shared. Being able to share with you made me feel included and accepted and for that I thank you.”
– TAX TRADERS
Download the freebie and receive email updates
Get your free snippet of my pocketbook which includes 8 of the 30 sections and sign-up to receive updates from me.
Get in touch
Keen to get in touch? I welcome any enquiries on presenting to your team, running a workshop or webinar, being a keynote speaker or panellist at your conference, speaking at your book club or writers event, or being a guest on your podcast or radio station.
If you’re not a form-filler, you can text or call me on 021 156 3669 or email: katie@katierickson.co.nz
30 Things I'd Like You to Know About Bipolar. A pocketbook.
This is the book I wish I had when I was first diagnosed with bipolar. Designed to be flicked through and for each section to be read quickly – this is a light read about an otherwise scary or intimidating topic of life with bipolar. I believe that beautiful things can be healing and that seeing your experiences in print can make you feel less alone and more hopeful.
Whether you live with bipolar, or someone you love, lead or look after lives with bipolar, this is a compassionate book told from my lived experience perspective. In this book, you’ll learn:
* How people with bipolar can experience the world.
* The importance of language to overcome stigma.
* How counselling, creativity and community help.
* The bigger picture of mental health and neurodiversity.
What's new on the blog
Creating belonging at work beyond Mental Health Awareness Week
I don’t want to bag awareness weeks. In the workplace and in homes up and down the country it does real work. It gives us language. It gives us a reference point. It makes a subject sayable and chips away at stigma and discrimination. It deserves huge kudos for that. A large part of my work is awareness and empathy building – it’s the perfect starting point.
The theme for this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week is Belonging Matters. It’s got me thinking about what it means to really belong at work. To me it boils down to a sense of agency and contribution and the safety to be yourself.
With this year’s theme in mind, it’s worth asking what belonging requires of a workplace culture, rather than what it requires of the people in it.
