If medication is controlling the swings of bipolar disorder, is being in counseling necessary. I'm getting prescribed medication through my regular doctor but my medication dosage isn't being monitored along with my bipolar disorder. I still have mild swings that I can recognize but someone recently told me that I don't see all the swings like other people can see. The medication has been working but I recently had a relapse of a major swing that I felt like I was flying high for a few weeks and then I quickly dropped into a depressive and suicidal stage within a day. Then I was bouncing off the walls again a couple days later before I started to level out. I reconsidered counseling with the urging of a freind and I have an appointment with a psychologist but i'm not understanding how counseling will be able to help me. How can a counselor or phychologist help me control the swings if bipolar is a mental illness? Medication is the only effective way i've found so far to control my swings.