Activities Staff

Administrative Staff

Finance

Human Resources

Information Technology (IT)

Communications

Admissions Staff

Clinical Social Workers

Erikson Institute Distinguished Faculty

Erikson Institute Staff

Faculty

Leadership

Nursing Staff

Remote Access Intensive Outpatient Program

Therapeutic Community Staff

Therapy Staff

Fellows

Psychology

Jessica St. John, RN, is the Medical Office & Infection Control Nurse at the Austen Riggs Center.

Medical Office & Infection Control Nurse

Brenda St. Pierre serves in the Therapeutic Community Program as the centerwide community coordinator and as IRP-G and IRP-N program manager.

Centerwide Community Coordinator/IRP-G and IRP-N Program Manager

James Stephenson, RN, is a mental health specialist at the Austen Riggs Center.

Mental Health Specialist

Graduate of the William Alanson White Institute

Jennifer Stevens, PhD, ABPP, is the director of training at the Austen Riggs Center. In addition to her training role, she is a psychotherapist, a clinical supervisor, and a faculty member.

Part-time clinical instructor in psychology in the department of psychiatry at the Harvard Medical School

Division I faculty at the William Alanson White Institute

Director of Training

BS in criminal justice from Westfield State University

In her role as an admissions clinician, Brooke Storti, LCSW, works closely with prospective patients and families to determine whether or not Riggs might be a good fit. She is part of a team that answers any questions that a prospective patient may have about the treatment, examined living, or anything else about Riggs. The prospect of entering treatment can be overwhelming and Mrs. Storti aims to build trusting relationships in order to make the transition less daunting.

Mrs. Storti worked in the [adult] probation department of the Trial Court of Massachusetts for 18 years prior to coming to Riggs. Helping people get much-needed services, whether it was mental health, substance use, or employment were all a part of her previous work experience. Working with people who are dealing with very stressful situations along with her passion for helping others continues to inform her work at Riggs.

Mrs. Storti volunteers for the annual American Foundation for Suicide Prevention “Out of the Darkness” walks. She also was instrumental in creating a relationship between the local chapter of AFSP and the Great Barrington Police Department, who have increased their training and awareness in response to cases who are having a mental health crisis.

Professional Affiliations/Organizational Memberships

American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP)

National Association of Social Workers (NASW)

Certified in domestic abuse and sexual assault survivor counseling

Certified in trauma-focused CBT (TF-CBT)


Admissions Clinician

Joanne Stringer is the accounts payable and payroll coordinator at the Austen Riggs Center.

Accounts Payable and Payroll Coordinator 

BA from the Great Books program at St. John’s College

MA in psychology and gender studies from Duquesne University

PhD in clinical psychology from Duquesne University

Clinical training from the Psychoanalytic Couple & Family Institute of New England and the Pittsburgh Psychoanalytic Center

Fellowship in psychoanalytic studies at the Austen Riggs Center

Amy Taylor, PhD, is a psychologist in the Remote Access Intensive Outpatient Program for College Students in Massachusetts at the Austen Riggs Center.

Dr. Taylor is a licensed clinical psychologist and certified psychoanalyst. Prior to joining the IOP, Taylor was a staff psychologist in the residential program at Austen Riggs where her roles included psychotherapist, psychotherapy supervisor, admissions officer, and group facilitator. Her prior experience also includes working as a therapist and outreach coordinator in college counseling centers and supervising and clinicians training in college counseling and community mental health settings. In addition to her current role at Austen Riggs, Dr. Taylor is a core faculty member in the APA-accredited Clinical Psychology PhD Program at Fielding Graduate University where she is the Director of the Alonso Center for Psychodynamic Studies and the current Ruthellen Josselson Chair in Qualitative Inquiry. She maintains a private practice focused on gender identity, sexuality, creativity, and major life transitions.

Making psychotherapy and psychoanalytic treatment more accessible and inclusive

Psychotherapy Action Network (PsiAN) Steering Committee member

American Psychological Association Divisions: 9 (Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues); 32 (Humanistic); 39 (Psychoanalysis); 44 (Society for the Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity)

Amy E. Taylor, PhD, is a Remote Access IOP psychologist at the Austen Riggs Center.

Amy E. Taylor, PhD

Remote Access IOP Psychologist 

BA from University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill

PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville

Pre-doctoral internship at the Dartmouth Medical School

Graduate of the Berkshire Psychoanalytic Institute

As the Evelyn Stefansson Nef Director of the Erikson Institute, Jane G. Tillman, PhD, ABPP, works to develop existing and new programs to support psychoanalytic education, training, scholarship, research, interdisciplinary studies, and advocacy that contribute to knowledge about human development across the lifespan and the ways identity is shaped in various sociocultural and historical contexts. Developing Riggs’ institutional archives and specialty library to contribute to scholarly research is also a significant aspect of the Erikson Institute. Applying the clinical learning available at the Austen Riggs Center to larger social contexts and problems in order to contribute to our local community and beyond by improving access to mental health care, addressing issues of stigma, collaborative care, and suicide prevention are all aspects of the Erikson Institute.

As a psychotherapist and psychoanalyst, Dr. Tillman treats patients at the Center. And, as a researcher, she is interested in suicide prevention and post-vention.

Dr. Tillman presents her scholarship and research in international forums including seminars, lectures, conferences, and publications.

Prior to entering the field of psychology Dr. Tillman was a flight paramedic for UNC Air Care. She is also an Episcopal priest serving a local congregation. Dr. Tillman notes, “In my work at Riggs I am made mindful of the various traumatic situations that contribute to suffering and the psychological and spiritual questions that arise in relation to suffering and meaning making.”

Outside of Riggs Dr. Tillman serves on several editorial boards for professional journals. She volunteers to present to local organizations and churches on the topic of suicide, trauma, and other organizational issues, and has served as an organizational consultant to several psychoanalytic institutes as they sought to understand institutional challenges.

American Psychological Association Division 39 (Psychoanalysis)

Western Massachusetts Albany Association for Psychoanalytic Psychology

Board Certified by the American Board of Professional Psychology in Psychoanalysis and in Clinical Psychology

Board Certified by the American Board of Psychoanalysis

Assistant clinical professor at the Yale Child Study Center

Teaching associate in psychiatry at the Cambridge Health Alliance of Harvard Medical School

The Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association

Hans H. Strupp Award (2021) Appalachian Psychoanalytic Society

Award for Best Poster (2019) American Association of Suicidology

Ernest and Gertrude Ticho Memorial Lecture Prize (2019), American Psychoanalytic Association

Award for Excellence in Leadership (2010), Section for Women, Gender and Psychoanalysis, Division 39 of the APA

Dissociation, psychosis, religion, impasses in treatment, embodiment, clinical and professional ethics, research methodology, identifying markers for acute risk of suicide, and the effect of patient suicide on clinicians

Jane G. Tillman, PhD, ABPP, is the Evelyn Stefansson Nef Director of the Erikson Institute for Education, Research, and Advocacy at the Austen Riggs Center.

Jane G. Tillman, PhD, ABPP

Evelyn Stefansson Nef Director of the Erikson Institute for Education, Research, and Advocacy

S. Daltrey Turner, LICSW, is a clinical social worker at the Austen Riggs Center.

Her work history includes: program director at the Robinson Developmental Center in Robinson, TX; clinician, program director, and director of admissions and marketing for Hillcrest Educational Centers, Inc. in Pittsfield, MA; and social worker and director of social work for Hillcrest Commons Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Pittsfield, MA.

Ms. Turner is a founding member and Board Secretary of the Berkshire Community Diaper Project. She volunteers with the Barrington Stage Company and is currently an Affiliate Board Member of United Cerebral Palsy Association of Berkshire County. She is a former member of the Pittsfield School Committee, as well as a clinical volunteer with Tele-bridging Mental Health.

Professional Affiliations / Organizational Memberships

Clinical Social Worker

BA in English and American language and literature from Harvard and Radcliffe Colleges

Beth Turner, LICSW, is a clinical social worker at the Austen Riggs Center.

Ms. Turner has 20 years of experience in clinical social work and has practiced and supervised in inpatient and residential settings, crisis teams, consultative-liaison psychiatry, and in private practice with individuals and couples. She has also presented and taught on Control Mastery theory and family therapy.

BA in psychology from the University at Albany

Charlene Van Alphen is a substance use counselor at the Austen Riggs Center.

Substance Use Counselor

Vamik D. Volkan, MD, is emeritus professor of psychiatry at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, an emeritus training and supervising analyst at the Washington Psychoanalytic Institute, and a past president of the International Society for Political Psychology, the Virginia Psychoanalytic Society, the Turkish-American Neuropsychiatric Society, and the American College of Psychoanalysts. He holds Honorary Doctorate degrees from Kuopio University, Finland and from Ankara University, Turkey.

For nearly three decades, Dr. Volkan has led interdisciplinary teams to various trouble spots around the world and has brought high-level ‘enemy’ representatives together for years-long unofficial dialogues. His work in the field has resulted in his developing new theories about large-group behavior in times of peace and war. Dr. Volkan was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008, supported by letters from 27 countries. He has authored or coauthored forty books and has edited or co-edited ten more. His recent projects include clinical teaching on subjects like mourning and technical issues in psychotherapy, books on psychotherapeutic technique and large group identity, an authobiographical account of his international work, and the formation of the International Dialogue Initiative. Dr. Volkan began his yearly visits to the Center in 2003.

, a film about his life and work, directed by Molly Castelloe, PhD, won the 

 given by the National Association for the Advancement of Psychoanalysis (NAAP). It also received the 

 "for furthering the discipline of psychohistory through the medium of documentary film."

Senior Erikson Scholar-Emeritus

Meet the Austen Riggs staff of therapists, nurses, administrators, and other healthcare professionals who work as a team on behalf of our patients. 

Staff Directory of Therapists and Teams | Austen Riggs

For more information on our residential treatment programs, or answers to any questions, please feel free to contact us. 

Meet Our Team

Jessica St. John, RN

Brenda St. Pierre

James Stephenson, RN

Jennifer Stevens, PhD, ABPP

Brooke Storti, LCSW

Joanne Stringer

Amy E. Taylor, PhD

Jane G. Tillman, PhD, ABPP

S. Daltrey Turner, LICSW

Beth Turner, LICSW

Charlene Van Alphen

Vamik Volkan, MD

Contact Us for More

For more information on our residential treatment programs, or answers to any questions, please feel free to contact us.

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