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BA in Literaturefrom Westfield State University

Jodi Shafiroff is the director of development and alumni relations at the Austen Riggs Center.

Ms. Shafiroff has worked for nonprofits for more than 20 years, most recently as executive director of the Becket Athenaeum. Her previous experience includes connecting startup nonprofits to the foundations most likely to give them funding, donor cultivation and management, as well as programming direction and teaching.

Ms. Shafiroff volunteers as a development consultant for several Western Massachusetts nonprofits.

Jodi Shafiroff

Director of Development and Alumni Relations

MA in anthropology from Stanford University

A board-certified psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, family researcher, and organizational consultant, Edward R. Shapiro, MD, is a Senior Erikson Scholar in the Erikson Institute of the Austen Riggs Center. 

Dr. Shapiro was a distinguished faculty member in the Erikson Institute for Education, Research, and Advocacy of the Austen Riggs Center. He is the former Medical Director/CEO of the Center (1991-2011 and 2025-June 30, 2026).

An organizational consultant for over thirty-five years, Dr. Shapiro has consulted with hospitals, mental health clinics, law firms, and family businesses. He has published over fifty articles and book chapters on human and organizational development, family functioning, and personality disorders, presenting papers in this country and abroad. He is the author of 

Finding a Place to Stand: Developing Self-Reflective Institutions, Leaders and Citizens

 (Phoenix, 2020). His book (with A. W. Carr), 

Lost in Familiar Places: Creating New Connections between the Individual and Society

, was published by Yale University Press (1991) as was his edited book, 

The Inner World in the Outer World: Psychoanalytic Perspectives

For a list (and downloadable copies) of Dr. Shapiro's publications, see: 

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Edward_Shapiro2/contributions

Professional Affiliations / Organizational Memberships

Founding member of the Psychoanalytic Society and Institute of the Berkshires

Advisory board member of Partners Confronting Collective Atrocities

Board member of the International Dialogue Initiative

Principal of the Boswell Group of New York

Clinical professor of psychiatry at Yale University School of Medicine

Certification in Psychoanalysis from the American Psychoanalytic Association

Fellow of the A.K. Rice Institute and the American College of Psychoanalysis

Felix and Helene Deutsch Scientific Award from the Boston Psychoanalytic Society

Research Prize from the Society for Family Therapy and Research

Philip Isenberg Teaching Award from McLean Hospital

Named 2007 “Outstanding Psychiatrist for Advancement of the Profession” by the Massachusetts Psychiatric Association

Named “Top Doctor” by U.S. News & World Report since 2011

Edward R. Shapiro, MD

BA in history and religious studies from Brown University

Post-baccalaureate in pre-medical studies at Columbia University

DO from New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine

Psychiatry residency at the Institute of Living / Hartford Hospital

Fellowship in hospital-based psychotherapy and psychoanalytic studies at the Austen Riggs Center

Kyle Shepard, DO, is a staff psychiatrist at the Austen Riggs Center. In addition, he coordinates the Grand Rounds at Austen Riggs.

Before starting at the Austen Riggs Center he worked as an inpatient attending physician at the Institute of Living where he had the pleasure of teaching medical students, psychiatry residents, and psychology trainees.

Professional Affiliations/Organizational Memberships

Board Certified in Psychiatry by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN)

Kyle Shepard, DO

Staff Psychiatrist

Cynthia Sinopoli, RN, is a staff nurse at the Austen Riggs Center.

Staff Nurse

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

Jessica St. John, RN

Medical Office & Infection Control Nurse

Brenda St. Pierre serves in the Therapeutic Community Program as the centerwide community coordinator and is a senior program manager.

Brenda St. Pierre

Centerwide Community Coordinator/Senior Program Manager

Laura Stephen is the medical staff coordinator at the Austen Riggs Center. 

Laura Stephen is the Medical Staff Coordinator at the Austen Riggs Center.

Laura Stephen

Medical Staff Coordinator 

James Stephenson, RN, is the day charge nurse and a mental health specialist at the Austen Riggs Center.

James Stephenson, RN

Day Charge Nurse

Graduate of the William Alanson White Institute

Jennifer Stevens, PhD, ABPP, is a staff psychologist, clinical supervisor, and faculty member at the Austen Riggs Center. Dr. Stevens is also the former director of training.

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

Jennifer Stevens, PhD, ABPP

Staff Psychologist

BS in criminal justice from Westfield State University

In her role as senior 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.

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)


Brooke Storti, LICSW

Senior Admissions Clinician

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

Joanne Stringer

Accounts Payable and Payroll Coordinator 

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

Fellowship in psychoanalytic studies at the Austen Riggs Center

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

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

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

Jodi Shafiroff

Edward R. Shapiro, MD

Kyle Shepard, DO

Cynthia Sinopoli, RN

Jessica St. John, RN

Brenda St. Pierre

Laura Stephen

James Stephenson, RN

Jennifer Stevens, PhD, ABPP

Brooke Storti, LCSW

Joanne Stringer

Jane G. Tillman, PhD, ABPP

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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