izzyhoey2: Kerry Katona visits Oxford Union again to deliver a speech about overcoming her bipolar disorder

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Kerry Katona visits Oxford Union again to deliver a speech about overcoming her bipolar disorder

PUBLISHED: 17:27 EST, 24 October 2012 | UPDATED: 18:10 EST, 24 October 2012

Kerry Katona showed her serious side on Wednesday evening as she hosted a talk at the Oxford Union.

The former Atomic Kitten star addressed the debating society, which has produced 12 British Prime Ministers, and spoke about her struggles with bipolar disorder.

The reality star appeared relaxed as she arrived at the Union dressed in a casual outfit featuring leggings, a T-shirt and a black blazer and debuting a new quiff hairstyle.

Right at home: Kerry Katona addressed the Oxford Union on Wednesday evening

The 32-year-old blonde was joined on the stage by therapists Eva and Nik Speakman, who helped Kerry overcome her struggles with their method of 'schema conditioning psychotherapy'.

It marked the second time that Kerry has been invited by the Oxford Union to talk about her whirlwind life.

The blonde first hosted a Q&A session for the society in 2009, where she openly spoke about her battles with addiction, her mental illness and her messy private life.

Addressing the Union: Kerry was joined by psychotherapists Eva and Nik Speakman and spoke about her struggles with bipolar disorder

Welcome back: It was the second time the former Atomic Kitten star was invited to talk about her life

And despite the fact that only a small number of people attended the talk, the star's performance was warmly received and got positive reviews from the students.

This time, Kerry, who seems to have gotten her life back on track after the divorce from ex-husband Mark Croft, is said to have talked about how she overcame her manic depression with the help of the two therapists.

The psychologists joined the star as they spoke about their unique method that has also worked on other celebrities including Kym Marsh and Ben Clarke.

The Speakmans have already appeared on ITV's This Morning several times, where they helped members of the audience overcome their longstanding phobias, and gave the Oxford Union an insight to their way of working with troubled patients.

Smartening up: Kerry and the Speakmans spoke about the unique method that helped the star get back on the right track

Laughing it off: Despite the heavy subject, the trio seemed to enjoy themselves at the debating society

It was the second time this week that Kerry opened up to a classroom about her mental illness.

Earlier that day she visited West Cheshire College to deliver a speech about the subject.

'As a bipolar sufferer, I want to raise awareness of mental health problems as so many people do suffer from them, but there is still a stigma around it,' she told the students then.

'I wanted to share my story so any individuals know they are not alone and that there is support available for them.'