Peter Silverstone

Area of Study / Keywords

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About

Dr. Silverstone trained in medicine at the University of London, England, before completing a three-year residency training in psychiatry at the Maudsley Hospital and Institute of Psychiatry in London. He spent three years as a research fellow at the University of Oxford, before joining the University of Alberta in 1992.

Dr. Silverstone has an active research interest in several areas including psychopharmacology, self-esteem, bipolar disorder, imaging, depression in medically ill patients and training police officers in de-escalation techniques. His current research focus includes children and youth as well as e-mental health initiatives. To date, Dr. Silverstone has more than 140 peer-reviewed publications to his name. 

Dr. Silverstone’s research achievements have won several awards, including the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal . He has been a founding member of several Canadian organizations including the Canadian Mood and Anxiety Treatment network (CANMAT) and was also the inaugural scientific director for the Strategic Clinical Network in Addiction and Mental Health (SCN) for Alberta Health Services. He continues to be involved in other initiatives and board positions, and has a strong focus on community outreach to help reduce stigma around mental health issues.

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Research

His current resaerch is in 3 main areas

(1) Utilizing novel e-mental health approach. He was instrumental in starting up the Centre for Online Mental Health  Support (www.COMHS.health) in collaboration with a mental health charitable foundation. This will increasingly focus on offering options to marginalized groups or those who have difficulty accessing appropriate support. This includes those experiencing Family Violence where a focus on solutions for all family members is critical. 

(2) Prevention and early identification of mental health issues. School-based approach. Working in close collaboration with Red Deer Public school district, he led an AHS and University of Alberta team that developed a unique program designed to reduce the risk of youth trying to harm themselves, as well as to reduce depression, anxiety, and the use of drugs, alcohol, and tobacco. This unique program (EMPATHY – Empowering a Multimodal Pathway Towards Health Youth) was implemented in over 6,200 students aged 11-18, and was very successful. It considerably reduced suicidal thinking, depression, anxiety, bullying, and drug and alcohol abuse in Grades 6-12. It continues in place. He has continued to work with Fort McMurray Catholic and Public school boards to identify the rates of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in approximately 5,000 youth in Grades 7-12 following the 2016 Wildfire. Sadly, these are very high, and are not decreasing with time. New planned work includes developing and implementing successful programs to reduce incidence and prevalence of psychiatric conditions in children and youth using school-based approaches. 

(3) Child Sexual Abuse, education, prevention, and treatment. In a series of studies he has supported a team that developed a novel, intensive, programs to treat children and youth survivors of child sexual abuse (CSA). This involves intermittent focused and intensive therapies, specifically involving trauma focused cognitive behaviour therapy (TF-CBT), but integrating many other approaches including play therapy, exercise, and animal assisted therapy. This has led to highly significant improvements in multiple areas, including reduction of risk of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and anxiety, during attendance at a purpose designed residential facility. With a former PhD student we also developed a novel training program for adults that, uniquely, changes behaviours as well as knowledge and attitudes regarding child sexual abuse and has long-term beneficial impacts. It has been utilized by over 10,000 individuals. Current research involves developing new programs to better support survivors of CSA.

Montesanti S., Ghidei W., Silverstone P., Wells L., Squires S., Bailey A.

Journal of Health Services Research & Policy. 2022 April; 27 (3):169-179 10.1177/13558196221078796

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Ghidei W., Montesanti S., Tomkow K., Silverstone P.H., Wells L., Campbell S.

Trauma Violence & Abuse. 2022 March; 10.1177/15248380211069059

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Eboreime E., Shalaby R., Mao W., Owusu E., Vuong W., Surood S., Bales K., MacMaster F.P., McNeil D., Rittenbach K., Ohinmaa A., Bremault-Phillips S., Hilario C., Greiner R., Knox M., Chafe J., Coulombe J., Xin-Min L., McLean C., Rathwell R., Snaterse M., Spurvey P., Taylor V.H., McLean S., Urichuk L., Tzeggai B., McCabe C., Grauwiler D., Jordan S., Brown E., Fors L., Savard T., Grunau M., Kelton F., Stauffer S., Cao B., Chue P., Abba-Aji A., Silverstone P., Nwachukwu I., Greenshaw A., Agyapong V.I.O.

BMC HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH. 2022 March; 22 (1) 10.1186/s12913-022-07510-8

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Pazderka H., Brown M.R.G., McDonald-Harker C.B., Greenshaw A.J., Agyapong V.I.O., Noble S., Mankowski M., Lee B., Omeje J., Brett-MacLean P., Kitching D.T., Hayduk L.A., Silverstone P.H.

Frontiers in Psychiatry. 2021 September; 12 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.682055

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Lalani N., Drolet J.L., McDonald-Harker C., Brown M.R.G., Brett-MacLean P., Agyapong V.I.O., Greenshaw A.J., Silverstone P.H.

Frontiers in Public Health. 2021 July; 9 10.3389/fpubh.2021.682558

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McDonald-Harker C., Drolet J.L., Sehgal A., Brown M.R.G., Silverstone P.H., Brett-MacLean P., Agyapong V.I.O.

Frontiers in Public Health. 2021 July; 9 10.3389/fpubh.2021.682634

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Pazderka H., Brown M.R.G., Agyapong V.I.O., Greenshaw A.J., McDonald-Harker C.B., Noble S., Mankowski M., Lee B., Drolet J.L., Omeje J., Brett-MacLean P., Kitching D.T., Silverstone P.H.

Frontiers in Public Health. 2021 June; 12 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.682041

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Drolet JL, McDonald-Harker C, Lalani N, McGreer S, Brown MRG, Silverstone PH

Journal of Education in Emergencies. 2021 June; 7 (1):54-79 10.33682/u3ar-wwzm

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Lalani N., Drolet J.L., McDonald-Harker C., Brown M.R.G., Brett-MacLean P., Agyapong V.I.O., Greenshaw A.J., Silverstone P.H.

Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience. 2021 June; 9 10.3389/fpubh.2021.682558

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McDonald-Harker C., Drolet J.L., Sehgal A., Brown M.R.G., Silverstone P.H., Brett-MacLean P., Agyapong V.I.O.

Frontiers in Public Health. 2021 June; 9 10.3389/fpubh.2021.682634

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Brown M.R.G., Pazderka H., Agyapong V.I.O., Greenshaw A.J., Cribben I., Brett-MacLean P., Drolet J., McDonald-Harker C.B., Omeje J., Lee B., Mankowsi M., Noble S., Kitching D.T., Silverstone P.H.

Frontiers in Psychiatry. 2021 May; 12 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.676256

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Aghamohammadi-Sereshki A., Coupland N.J., Silverstone P.H., Huang Y., Hegadoren K.M., Carter R., Seres P., Malykhin N.V.

JOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRY & NEUROSCIENCE. 2021 February; 46 (1):E186-E195 10.1503/jpn.200034

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Drolet JL, McDonald-Harker C, Lalani N, Brown MRG, Silverstone PH

Journal of Disaster Research. 2020 November; 15 (7):833-844 10.20965/jdr.2020.p0833