Join us to explore how technology + mental health intersect in a fascinating Q&A with Dr. Shear. 

Dr. Katherine Shear will be interviewed by Erin Huie, Manager of Policy and Development at the Mental Health Association of San Francisco. 

Dr. Katherine Shear, psychiatrist and clinical researcher, has been working on exploring mental health challenges for most of her career. She serendipitously began working with grief in the mid 1990s and developed a short-term targeted grief treatment. Her work has led her to complete several government funded studies showing that her grief treatment surpasses the traditional options, including both therapy and medication. Columbia University, recognizing her efforts, authorized the Center for Complicated Grief.  For the past two years, she has been working on using software to create a platform to change the way patients are treated. Dr. Shear is thrilled to share her story on delving into technology and how she plans to keep changing the world. 

Agenda:

6:30 pm - 7:00 pm - Networking & light refreshments
7:00 pm - 7:45 pm - Conversation with Dr. Shear led by Erin Huie
7:45 pm - 8:15 pm - Q&A from the audience
8:15 pm - 8:45 pm - Final remarks and networking

Please e-mail Nadine Rose at [email protected], if you have questions about the event, or would like to request a free ticket 

Dr. Katherine Shear -  Speaker

Most recently, Dr. Shear has worked in the area of bereavement and grief.  In the mid-1990s, Dr. Shear and her colleagues identified the syndrome of complicated grief, an intense long-lasting form of grief.   She developed and tested a novel treatment for the newly identified condition which culminated in the publication of the first randomized controlled treatment study for complicated grief in June 2005.  In September 2007, Dr. Shear received a five-year grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to conduct the first clinical study comparing the efficacy of two different types of psychotherapy for the treatment of complicated grief in older adults. In August 2009, Dr. Shear received another five-year grant from NIMH to conduct a multisite treatment study to test the effectiveness of antidepressant medication in treating complicated grief when taken with or without complicated grief treatment.

Dr. Shear is the Marion E. Kenworthy Professor of Psychiatry at Columbia University School of Social Work and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.  She is Director of the Bereavement and Grief Program and Director of the Complicated Grief Research and Training Program at Columbia University School of Social Work.  She is also Director of the Complicated Grief Treatment Program at the New York State Psychiatric Institute.

Dr. Shear currently serves on the Advisory Council for the National Institute of Health’s National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM).  She also serves as Advisor to DSM-5 workgroup on complicated grief and adult separation anxiety and has been appointed as Member of the WHO ICD11 Working Group on Mood and Anxiety Disorders. For her full bio, see here. 

Erin Huie (CSSW '13)  - Moderator

Erin is a mental health policy and program leader equipped with a high-level, diverse range of strategy and research experience - particularly as it comes to health and mental health initiatives addressing issues experienced by cultural and/or underserved communities. Her wealth of programmatic, policy, and development experience has been cultivated within multiple levels of government and the nonprofit sector, including the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (SAMHSA), the City of New York, the Mental Health Association of San Francisco, and the Mental Health Association of New York City. Additionally, as she has worked in such areas as HIV policy advocacy and grassroots education advocacy, she holds strong community engagement, ground advocacy, and outreach abilities.

Event partners: Barnard Northern California Alumni Board, Columbia University School of Social Work Northern California Alumni Board