The Silver Hill Academy for Research and Education (SHARE)
Our Mission & Vision
The mission of the Silver Hill Academy for Research and Education (SHARE) is to provide education for mental health providers regarding the best available treatment in the care of complex mental disorders and addiction, and to stimulate curiosity for ongoing, lifelong learning. We accomplish this through our vision of establishing lasting relationships with mental health providers interested in learning and advancing together the frontier of our field through continued scholarship.
SHARE has marched with great success toward its mission and vision in just a short time, and we are enthusiastic about our programming opportunities. Through our expanded training and continuing education programs, we have been able to reach clinicians around the nation and around the world.
SHARE CME Programming
We have expanded our reach through continuing medical education (CME) to physicians nationwide and social workers and psychologists in Connecticut and New York. Through partnerships with other organizations, we have also created programming that provides continuing education for other disciplines.
Through this expansion, and the creation of unique programming, we have seen our participation rates grow rapidly.
Our audience for Grand Rounds educational presentations has grown from approximately 60 people to an average of 250, with a peak audience size above 400. Participants now join from around the nation. Grand Rounds presentations are open to the public as well. Join us! View our upcoming programming here.
Virtual Grand Rounds
Silver Hill Hospital’s Virtual Grand Rounds are a no-cost opportunity to share knowledge and ideas with providers from all disciplines of mental health. They represent a unique learning experience in which providers earn continuing education credits and have an opportunity to learn from experts in the field with an opportunity for questions and a discussion during each presentation. We are excited and honored to welcome participants dialing in nationwide.
The Silver Hill/Mentalizing Initiative ECHO focused on Patient Connection
In conjunction with the Mentalizing Initiative in Los Angeles, we have created a unique program based on the concepts of attachment, reflective functioning, and mentalization. This program features a 20-minute didactic, followed by a case, and then a facilitated discussion where participants online can join and share their thoughts and questions. This past year, participants tuned in from 15 states and multiple nations, including Canada and Mexico. We have received outstanding feedback from participants as well as tremendous gratitude for the creation of this program and anticipate a similar program beginning in December 2025. Stay tuned for further information on this site!
The Project ECHO Silver Hill Collaborations
A. Resilience: This is a program sponsored by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) through a competitive grant process. A hub team of experts in resilience from around the nation develops a curriculum and leads discussions each week with clinicians focused on various aspects of resilience. Resilience champions from Silver Hill Hospital – Jeff Katzman, MD, Steve Xenakis, MD, Rebecca Murphy, and Sarah Heines – have been critical members of the hub team. Participants have come from 45 states and 18 nations.
The link to register is here: https://iecho.org/echo-institute-programs/supporting-resilience-through-health-care
The program is based on a model created by Jeff Katzman, MD, and Steve Xenakis, MD, for Project ECHO working with first responders. During the pandemic, this program supported over 600 clinicians in a single call that taught resilience skills. The most recent HRSA program has reached over 2,500 providers from multiple fields and disciplines in medicine. The presentations teach resilience skills and are led by hub team members as well as other national leaders. This has led to the development of a workbook currently. Available through this link in either free PDF format or paperback for purchase.
B: Violence Prevention:
The Violence Prevention ECHO is an 8-week, one-hour-per-week virtual program for all health professionals, first responders, public health professionals, legal personnel, and educators. The curriculum is designed to create a community of practice among health providers, increasing knowledge and self-efficacy regarding the multi-factorial causes of violence (domestic violence/interpersonal violence/suicide/social determinants of health/environmental justice) and gun safety and provides important communication skills and calls for action.
The link to register is here: https://iecho.org/program/PRGM169403777489726XA6LZX0H/details
C: Bureau of Indian Affairs, Tribal Governments, Department of Interior Officers
SHARE is also in the second year of a collaborative effort to work with the above departments in a national, virtual resilience training program to help facilitate the development of resilience skills. This has been quite well received by participants and continues to expand.
D: Internal Continuing Education Programs
Additionally, staff at Silver Hill can tune into educational programming to engage in lifelong learning through SHARE. These include case conferences through Argent and our neuropsychiatric program as well as in person special workshops. Over the past year, that has included training in DB, Mentalization, Family Systems theory, and applications of AI from experts in these areas.
E: The Neuropsychiatric Conference in Rome:
This year, the Neuropsychiatric Center at Silver Hill created a three-day conference with an assorted panel of interdisciplinary speakers in Rome. Plans are in the works for an annual conference sharing the unique model of care and recent research findings from the program.
SHARE Learners
It has become competitive to become a learner at the doctoral level at Silver Hill. We receive applications from around the nation for the few spots available. The opportunities include:
- Psychology Interns– two individuals work with us and the William Alanson White Institute for their final clinical year before receiving their PhD.
- Psychology Externs – this coming year, we welcome an extern from Long Island University, Brooklyn, to join the cohort of doctoral-level trainees for the year.
- Psychology Post-Doctoral Fellows, we have advanced from one to three fellows. They have completed their internship and work at Silver Hill full-time immersed in various clinical and educational activities.
Applications for post-doctoral fellowships must be received by December 15, 2023. If interested in applying, please email Dr. Jeff Katzman at jkatzman@silverhillhospital.org for more information.
- Psychiatry Residents– we have initiated a program whereby one senior Psychiatry resident who has completed medical school and three years of a four-year psychiatry residency from Yale will join us again for the year, augmenting the relationship with the Yale Department of Psychiatry. It is also possible to visit Silver Hill as a resident from another program through the establishment of an affiliation agreement. This year’s visiting resident comes for three months from the University of New Mexico.
- Medical Students– we have launched a new program with the CUNY medical school for fourth-year medical students planning to become psychiatrists. Last year’s inaugural class gave top marks to the initiative, and we anticipate expanding the program to SUNY downstate this coming year.
- Social Work Interns– we have greatly expanded the number of social work interns with affiliations from esteemed institutions in New York and Connecticut.
- Nursing Students– we have nursing students from the University of Bridgeport, Western Connecticut State University, Norwalk Community College, and Fairfield University.
Our trainees come together in a true learning community, sharing didactic and community-building experiences. This has had an unexpected and positive impact as many trainees have decided to stay on as staff at Silver Hill Hospital following training and therefore already know one another. Indeed, SHARE has become a pipeline for the growth in the number of providers and services at Silver Hill.
Loneliness and Belonging:
SHARE anticipates diving into a critical theme for mental health practitioners to consider in their work. For 2024 and 2025, we are considering the idea of Loneliness. Activities have included:
- Connecting with other groups in Connecticut active in this area including the Connecticut Collaborative to End Loneliness and SOAR
- Presenting information around the state through local libraries
- Providing Grand Rounds programs on this topic
- Providing a film festival with psychodynamic ideas centered on Loneliness
- Discussions at community events such as the presentation of a play, The Loneliness Cure, at the Fairfield University theater
- Creating a larger conference in 2025 centered on the theme of loneliness and belonging
Scholarship
A component of SHARE is to engage in academic scholarship. Clinicians at Silver Hill Hospital have long been involved in publishing and presenting their work. SHARE provides a platform for disseminating this information and encouraging further scholarship through regularly scheduled writing groups to help clinicians communicate their unique work. Here is a link to articles, book chapters, books, and presentations from Silver Hill Hospital clinicians over the past few years.