As of Spring 2021, the eating disorder treatment program at Silver Hill Hospital no longer exists.
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Any current reviews? Please post in comments below. You can check out the FAQ and Guidelines for suggested questions. Thank you!
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Any current reviews? Please post in comments below. You can check out the FAQ and Guidelines for suggested questions. Thank you!
This is CLOSED
just the ed unit or whole facility?
Just the ed unit
I went to silver hill for treatment for other conditions, and adolescent tlp (khouse), and adult inpatient (acu). I had eating disorder behaviors at the time, but they weren’t really treated there, however I also wasn’t there for that. They wanted me to do their iop as well, which is covered by insurance, but I lived too far away and went elsewhere. I can’t say much specifically about their eating disorder program because their inpatient units are pretty isolated, and they try very hard to completely separate adults and adolescents (we weren’t even allowed on the bus at the same time). However, having been there a few times, I can say some pretty general statements. The psychiatrist who runs the ed program (last name starts with N) is amazing! She was my psychiatrist when I was inpatient and was really nice and knew her stuff. Silver Hill also knows their dbt really well. All of the rcs and social workers in the dbt programs are intensively trained in dbt. Basically, if you’re there, you will live and breathe dbt. They don’t just do the random skills worksheets. They do skills coaching and diary cards. So if that’s something that works for you, it’s probably a good choice. A lot of the staff are really nice, but some are kind of awful. They’re usually somewhat open to feedback though. I don’t know much about the privileges, but most of their tlps have levels systems as do most ed programs, so I can assume they have one. However, I know that as adolescents, when we went to the gym, there would sometimes be adults from hill house there, so it’s definitely something that can be worked up to. They have a beautiful campus to walk around, a full gym (the adolescents are the only ones required to go to the gym and it had pool tables and ping pong too it wasn’t all exercise stuff) and pool. They also had groups like art therapy, horticulture therapy, music therapy, pet therapy, etc. I’m pretty sure they recently updated their website to have complete schedules of the normal 28 day stay. The food in the main house is REALLY good. I cannot stress enough how good it is. I think hill house goes there once or twice a week but mainly prepares their own meals (not sure if it’s the rcs or diet tech or patients)? At least that’s what a fellow patient who had been in the program before told me. They also have outings and they do the typical 3 meals three snacks thing. An important thing to note is that most insurance covers their inpatient and iop, but not their residential. They call their residential programs transitional living programs which I don’t really get, but because of that, there’s only like two insurances that cover them. But they also have a lot of funding and provide scholarships to attend, which is how a lot of the adolescents were at khouse with me. I can’t tell you whether their ed tlp is worth the cost otherwise, but I can say that if you go onto the hospital’s campus in general, or look into the training of their staff, there is good reason that they cost so much (it’s also one of those places that celebrities go because it’s so nice). That’s not to say that it doesn’t have it’s faults, just that it is a very supervised place in a very rich small town and has a different kind of vibe to it than most of the other places I have been.
Do you happen to recall what insurances did cover? Thank you for such an extensive review!
I haven’t been the new ED program, but I was in the ACU in 2013, and I got barely any ED treatment (I mean I was there for self harm and suicidal ideation) because my insurance wouldn’t cover “ed†because I wasn’t underweight enough… it wasn’t the greatest for my ed because I got away with a lot of stuff (although after days of fighting back and forth, the treatment team finally let me go to the other unit to have groups with the ed patients).but it helped my self harm/ suicidal ideation a LOT. And the techs were incredible . I don’t know if the ones I had are still there but they were so important in the days I spent there.
Now, I don’t know any specifics about the current program, but the new doctor that runs the program.. I don’t think I can say names but it stars with a N (her last name).. let me just say she is the BEST PSYCH DOCTOR I HAVE EVER SEEN IN MY ENTIRE LIFE. I’m telling y’all, she really saved my life at my old php program she worked at. I owe her so much of my mental stability via the right medication mixture. She really freaking cares about a person- not just as a client but as a person. She treats you with the utmost respect. I had worked with her on and off from the age of 17-26 so I know what I’m talking about. If she’s running the new program, I know it’s probably AMAZING. And the disdain that works there with her, realllly good too! She actually really tried to help me when I was there in 2013 with my ed.
So I would most def check it out. The best psych doctor in the game is running the ed program!!!
Has anyone been to Silver Hill since they opened their new ED program (2016 – 17)?
i just got info from someone info that Silver Hill (CT) basically redid its whole (or rather non existent for years) ED program late fall 2015? my only knowledge of SH is from years ago (over 12 plus years) and i signed myself out AMA and went a day program and did much better. Anyone have any idea what this new program is like? The online info “sounds” good- but I’m not clear if it its still a more appropriate choice to go for treatment if you have an addIction as well – since this is what they become know for . Also if anyone has been there how is it with no personal computers or cell phones the whole time- it sounds like even in the transitional living houses you cant even earn that a a privilege and i would potentially be there awhile. thanks . Hope they are good and trying to give people on the east coast more options! (and they treat co-occing conditions- what a concept (jk) that you may NOT just have an ED if its chronic that some places cant seem to “get” .) I Will be looking into the insurance/ expense part soon and will be glad to post what i find out . It’s a bit unclear online and appears you have to pay tons of $$ upfront and then only get bill for insurance at discharge ?
but in the meantime – does anyone one know abut the actual program? thanks !
RNR, thank you so much for your help! I got off the soy restricting medication so I’m going to call them tomorrow!
did you get any info that was promising when you called? Can you share what you learn b/c i think you may have called then right after they redid their ed program . Anything you lined bud be helpful – or even better if you went they they helped!…but the RNR’s comment about $$ upfront is what i was also told abut the time i just saw she was there (after i posted comment above. ) But will call them directly and see what their policy is now. Anything you know – you could please post.
1. Did they have a dining hall with salad bar or did you order trays in advance that are delivered?
2. What vegan protein do they have besides PB and tofu? I’m on a medication that limits soy, especially tofu and it can cause stroke!
3. What vegan dairy options do they have? Is it just soy milk?
4. Will they ever approve a patient bringing outside food to the program for special circumstances like my soy issue! It’s creating a huge roadblock!
5. Do they have a min admission BMI if labs are generally stable?
6. How do they approve / decide exerxose privileges?
7. Does Medicare cover any inpatient or just the crisis unit?
8. With only 1 inividual therapy session a week, will they delve into trauma work?
9. Do they have creative expressive arts ?
10. How often is the yoga? Meditation? Tai chi?
Thanks!
1. They do have a dining hall, as all of the other people there serve themselves, but when you are on ED protocol you sit at a different table and are served. If you get to the point where you want to select your own meals, you pick things out yourself. There is a salad bar.
2. No vegan protein options besides soy and peanut butter.
3. Soy only.
4. I have no idea, but possibly, because all of the other people in the DBT house can buy/bring whatever food they want and keep it in the kitchen. I am not sure about bringing it to the ED table though.
5. No minimum BMI, but like you said, you must be medically stable, as it is not a full-service hospital.
6. Exercise privileges are weight-based. If you are very underweight, they won’t let you exercise.
7. I am not familiar with medicare benefits, so I don’t know, you would have to ask them, but I doubt it, because Silver Hill doesn’t really work with insurance. Regardless of whether or not your insurance covers it, you have to pay in full up front and submit a claim to your insurance for reimbursement on your own after. Without coverage, the 30-day stay (which is their absolute minimum) is $50,000.
8. Yes, and this would be something you would be urged to cover in your primary group as well.
9. No, the residential programs there are strictly DBT-only (and 12-step if you are in the addiction house).
10. Yoga, meditation, tai-chi is offered once per week on Wednesdays (there will be two options at the same time, and you have to pick one). There is an additional free yoga class one day over the weekend. If they clear you to do it, you can also book private yoga lessons as often as you want ($100-200/session).
Was you comment in reply to the residential or IP eating disorder program? I need IP but I haven’t heard from anyone who’s been to it since it’s so recent. I’ve been to Silver Hill before but back in 2005 and 2009.
My comment was about the residential program. The new ED program is more intense, I would love to hear a review if anyone has done it!
Wait, they have a new ED specific program? I know you haven’t been to the new program, but since you said you’d heard it was more intense, you must have some knowledge. I didn’t know they’d revamped the program at all. What have you heard? I’ve considered Silver Hill for ED treatment because they’re so heavily DBT based and that is what I need. However, I nixed them because their ED program seemed so lax and not intensive.
They do. They say on their website now that there are both inpatient and residential ED programs. What I did would have been the “residential” program, which means you live in the DBT house and everything I said above applies. The inpatient program is the new one, which is located in the main house. There is more supervision there, but other than that I do not know what they have added to the program. Everyone admitted to silver hill has to stay at main house for a minimum of one night anyway before going to one of the residential houses.
When were you there:
July-August 2014
How many patients on average?
~25 people per house (fewer in the adolescent house/ACU/main house)
Does it treat both males and females? If so, is treatment separate or combined.
Yes. All ED groups are combined, and if you are only there for an ED and not an addiction, you will stay in the DBT house, which is co-ed. If you are there for an addiction and an ED, you will stay in either the male or female addiction house, but you will still attend the co-ed ED groups.
How often do you see a medical doctor, psychiatrist, psychologist (therapist), nutritionist, etc?
You see an internist during admission, but other than that the only MDs you will see are psychiatrists (unless something happens obviously and you need to go to a hospital). You see your psychiatrist once per week. There are not psychologists (except for the head of the ED department, who runs the ED groups, and who will occasionally see PTs one-on-one). The primary therapists are social workers, and you see yours once per week for an individual session and four times per week for your primary group.You see the nutritionist once per week individually, once per week for a group, and sporadically throughout the week when she proctors meals. It is important to realize before going here that they do not primarily treat eating disorders, meaning that when you enter either the DBT track or addiction track, the majority of your time is spent in DBT/addiction groups. However, if you are in the ED program, you do have to sit at the ED table during meals. There are about four ED groups per week.
What is the staff ratio to patients?
There is always at least one staff member in the house, one person leading groups, and one person at meals.
What sort of therapies are used? (DBT, CBT, EMDR) etc?
DBT for the main groups, some CBT in the ED groups.
Describe the average day:
During the week, breakfast is at 8 am, lunch at 12 pm, and dinner at 5 pm. At 9 am there is a goals group at the house, and then the rest of the morning is usually individual appointments and the ED groups (if you aren’t in the ED groups its just appointments/free time). From 1-2 pm and 2-3 pm you are in DBT “classes” (on Wednesdays yoga/meditation/tai chi). 3-4 pm is primary group. 4-5 is free time. There is another group at the house at 7 pm, which is usually just going over the day. There are on-campus AA and NA meetings overnight at 8 or 9 pm, which most people who weren’t there for addictions would go to anyway because there is little else to do and it is sort of a social thing. Lights out at 11.
What were meals like?
They’re pretty calm. Because the ED program is so small, adults and adolescents eat together. You have 30 mins to eat, and most people take less time than that because once you’re done you can leave and go back to the house.
What sorts of food were available or served?
Breakfast: either oatmeal (1packet flavored, 2 packets if unflavored), cereal (1 small box but 2 small boxes if unflavored cheerios), granola, 1/2 a bagel, 2 pieces of toast, or a muffin. Either an apple, a banana, or a small bowl of fruit salad (I usually did fruit salad in the morning because it is the only time it is available, and the fruit they had there over the summer was excellent!). There are some more options at breakfast, I think there were waffles or pancakes some days, and you could always get eggs and bacon, but that was all optional. You had to have a dairy, which would either be a glass of milk or yogurt, but you could also have soy milk. You didn’t need a “fat” at breakfast, but if you had toast or a bagel it was assumed that you would put something (either jam, peanut butter, butter, or cream cheese) on it.
Lunch/Dinner: depending on your needs, you either had to have one fruit and one dairy at both lunch and dinner, or one fruit and one dairy over the course of either lunch or dinner. All of the meals were pretty simple and just needed to consist of a protein, a carb, a fat, and a vegetable. Vegetables would either be sautéed in oil or you could do a green salad with oil and vinegar, checking off vegetable and fat. The protein could be whatever was served that day (usually some sort of chicken or fish) or tofu. You could always get a grilled tofu sandwich, a PB & J, or a veggie burger. As a vegetarian, those are kind of your only options. You also have the option of making an “entree salad”, which would be larger, with tofu and a grain (usually quinoa) and whatever vegetables you wanted.
Snacks: depending on your plan you would have either two or three per day, and could pick from fruit, soy milk, yogurt, pretzels, or peanut butter (you just had to pick two things per snack)
Desserts: you have to have at least one bite of a dessert two times per week.
Did they supplement? How did that system work?
Yes. I never saw someone flat-out not touch a meal, so I am not sure how much they would supplement in that case, but they usually tried to estimate how much or your meal was completed to see how much of a can they would give you. Supplements are only used if you don’t finish a meal, never for weight gain.
What is the policy of not complying with meals?
Typically just supplement. If you don’t take it, you would get a strike. You can get a strike for breaking any rule, and I think once you get three you get kicked out. You are on observation for an hour after meals but not after snacks. If you break observation you get a strike.
Are you able to be a vegetarian?
Yes. You could also be vegan.
What privelages are allowed?
After you have been there for a certain amount of time you can go on day and overnight passes.
Does it work on a level system?
No.
How do you earn privelages?
Just by being there for an amount of time, there are no levels.
What sort of groups do they have?
DBT skills, primary, food and feelings, nutrition, body image, yoga, meditation, tai chi.
What was your favorite group?
Primary. It is held by your therapist and you meet with the same people four times per week so you become close.
What did you like the most?
The campus itself is beautiful and the houses are very nice with very modern/clean bathrooms. There are also a lot of a amenities, like a nice gym, a pool, and a spa where you could book massages. You could also book private yoga and pilates lessons.
What did you like the least?
The groups on the weekends where so boring it really felt like they were just trying to waste time.
Would you recommend this program?
If your primary problem is an ED, then no. I went just for an ED and I picked Silver Hill because I was honestly afraid of treatment and gaining, and I thought that since it wasn’t an ED-only facility they might be a little lax. The staff and facilities are wonderful, but the ED program is somewhat unstructured. There were people there who definitely needed to gain weight and the meal program they have makes it easy to avoid doing so. You can eat the same things every single day if you want to; they don’t push you to try new things and there are no challenge meals. Snacks are also on you, unless you’re in the adolescent house, no one is going to check whether or not you ate them. Sticking to your meal plan is also on you, as the adult houses have kitchens that are usually stocked with snacks and no one is going to notice if you eat them. People tended to hangout in the kitchen eating a lot, especially on the weekends and at night, so if that would be hard for you you should go somewhere else. Another drawback is that you can essentially drop out of the ED program whenever you want to. After two weeks I asked to stop going to the ED groups because I didn’t like them and it was allowed. We were also allowed to stop eating at the ED table after two and a half weeks, meaning that we could eat whatever you wanted. Silver Hill is a wonderful place and I would never say that I got nothing out of the program, but my ED remained essentially unchanged. Silver Hill is extremely expensive and it is too easy to get away with problematic behaviors and to avoid weight gain there.
What level of activity or exercise was allowed?
It depends on where you are physically when you enter the program. I don’t think your allowed level of exercise could change. It seemed you were either allowed to exercise for 30 mins per day or you weren’t allowed to at all. Yoga didn’t count as exercise.
What did people do on weekends?
There are a few groups in the morning and one in the afternoon, but other than that you could just hangout, watch movies, exercise, swim, play pool or ping pong.
Do you get to know your weight?
The weights every morning are blind but you can usually get the nutritionist or your psychiatrist to tell you what is going on with your weight.
How fast is the weight gain?
I don’t know. To be honest the meals were small and neither I nor any of the other people that were there who needed to gain weight seemed to be gaining any.
What was the average length of stay?
30 days. The DBT track is 30 days long, and because it is the same program every month no one really stays for longer than that.
What was the average age range?
Adolescents were 12-17. Adults were 18-50s, with most being early 20s.
How do visits/phone calls work?
You can use the phone or computer at anytime you aren’t in group, and visits can also be anytime you aren’t in group.
Are you able to go out on passes?
Yes, after you have been there for a week.
What kind of aftercare do they provide? Do they help you set up an OP treatment team?
Yes they set up your aftercare. Pretty much everyone goes into day treatment after.
Could you post the review from 2005?
Can anyone do a review?
No, but if you go to the DBT track, can you please please please do a full review?
Does anyone have a recent reviews of Silver Hill?