Activities Staff

Administrative Staff

Finance

Human Resources

Information Technology (IT)

Development

Dietary

Communications

Admissions Staff

Clinical Social Workers

Erikson Institute Distinguished Faculty

Erikson Institute Staff

Faculty

Leadership

Nursing Staff

Online Intensive Outpatient Program

Therapeutic Community Staff

Therapy Staff

Fellows

Psychology

Carol Bersaw, RN, is a staff nurse at the Austen Riggs Center.

Carol Bersaw

Staff Nurse

MA in philosophy and social policy from American University

Spencer Biel, PsyD, is the director of the 

 for college students and emerging adults in Massachusetts. 

After completing a four-year fellowship at the Austen Riggs Center, Dr. Biel was hired as a full-time staff psychologist and worked for eight years in the residential program, including in roles as assistant team leader, testing and psychotherapy supervisor, and associate director of the Therapeutic Community Program.

As the founding director of the Online IOP, Dr. Biel has shaped the program based on his expertise working with young adults and commitment to increasing access to treatment that promotes deep self-understanding and opportunities for lasting change. For nearly two decades, he has focused clinically on young adults’ efforts to grow from being a child in a family to an adult in the world, directing special attention to the interplay between family and social dynamics and emotion regulation. In the IOP, his staff applies a psychodynamic systems approach, integrating dyadic and social learning so participants can understand developmental influences on their social positioning, translate their symptoms into more straightforward, intelligible communications to others, and deepen authentic interpersonal engagement both inside and beyond the program. This team approach promotes key components of emerging adulthood such as epistemic trust, identity coherence and flexibility, agency, and social belonging.

Dr. Biel is also in private practice in Chicago, where he is a clinical supervisor and treats adolescents, adults, couples, and families. He has published and presented on psychological testing, suicidality, therapeutic communities, and psychodynamic systems approaches to treatment. Currently, he is investigating uses and misuses of hope in psychotherapy.

Clinical Associate Faculty, Chicago Center for Psychoanalysis

Spencer Biel, PsyD

Director of Online IOP 

BA in psychology from Michigan State University

MA and PsyD from the George Washington University

Predoctoral internship at The Sisters of Mercy Hospital-Marian Center

Postdoctoral Fellowship in psychodynamic psychotherapy and psychoanalytic studies at the Austen Riggs Center

Michael Blake, PsyD, is a staff psychologist, team leader, and the manager of clinical and organizational evaluation at the Austen Riggs Center.

As an undergrad, Dr. Blake completed an internship at Kids Company in London, England, focused on providing alternative treatments for at-risk youth and adolescents.

During predoctoral internship, he provided crisis psychotherapy, group therapy, family therapy, and psychological testing from a psychodynamic perspective.

Improving psychodynamic understanding of groups, organizations, and leadership. Learning more about the relationship between fantasy, play, and meaning making.


Michael Blake, PsyD

Team Leader/Manager of Clinical and Organizational Evaluation/Staff Psychologist

PsyD in clinical psychology from Antioch University New England

Pre-doctoral internship at UMass Amherst’s Center for Counseling and Psychological Health

Abby Bliss, PsyD, is a postdoctoral Fellow in psychodynamic psychotherapy and psychoanalytic studies who provides 

Dr. Bliss has provided psychoanalytic psychotherapy and psychological testing in a variety of settings including community mental health and college counseling. While on internship, Dr. Bliss also completed a post-graduate fellowship program through the Massachusetts Institute for Psychoanalysis.

Professional Affiliations/Organizational Memberships

Massachusetts Institute for Psychoanalysis

APA Division 39, Section IX (Psychoanalysis for Social Responsibility)

The intersection of religion and spirituality and psychology

Abigail Bliss, PsyD

Fellow in Psychology

As the medication reconciliation and utilization review nurse, Lisa Bozzuto’s primary role involves obtaining equitable insurance coverage for the patients at the Austen Riggs Center.

Bozzuto serves on both the Conservation Commission and Agriculture and Forestry Commission in Stockbridge, MA.

American Association of Managed Care Nurses

Certification in Managed Care Nurse (CMCN)

Lisa Bozzuto, MEd, RN

Medication Reconciliation and Utilization Review Nurse

Bruce Bradley Gilbert, LMHC, ATR-BC, is a substance use counselor at the Austen Riggs Center.

Bruce Bradley Gilbert

Substance Use Counselor

BA from The George Washington University, Elliott School of International Affairs

Master of Commerce from Macquarie University

Human Resources Management certificate from eCornell

Luke Breslin is the Assistant Medical Records Administrator at the Austen Riggs Center.

Gould Farm Running for Recovery 5k Committee

Luke Conroy Breslin, MCom

Assistant Medical Records Administrator, COVID Test Site Administrator 

Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Corrine Chadwick is the medical records administrator and privacy officer at the Austen Riggs Center.

Ms. Chadwick is responsible for overseeing patient medical records. In this role, she ensures accurate and timely documentation necessary for accreditation. She manages all releases of information, maintains databases, and facilitates the ARC Medical Records Committee.

Ms. Chadwick is a certified cardio-kickboxing and spinning instructor.

Cori Chadwick

Medical Records Administrator/Privacy Officer

Chrissy Chaffee is the Medical Office/Nurse Educator at the Austen Riggs Center.

Medical Office/Nurse Educator

Post-baccalaureate in pre-medical studies at Bryn Mawr College

DO and MS in academic medicine at New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine

Fellowship in psychoanalytic studies at the Austen Riggs Center

Vivian Chan, DO, MS, is a staff psychiatrist at the Austen Riggs Center. Given her interest in group dynamics and education, she frequently consults to small groups and mentors residents and students during their psychodynamic psychiatry electives.

Dr. Chan completed her psychiatry residency at the Mount Sinai Morningside West Hospital Centers, where she worked in various clinical settings, including an intensive outpatient psychodynamic program, ACT team, and a child and adult outpatient psychiatric clinic. She complemented her psychotherapy training with further instruction at the Psychoanalytic Association of New York.

Chief Resident, Mount Sinai Morningside West

Presented nationally at the American Psychiatric Association on promoting the practice and education of psychodynamic psychotherapy in psychiatric residencies

Completed a yearlong AOA Training in Policy Studies (TIPS) program

Presents at psychoanalytic and psychosocial conferences on psychoanalytic theory and media (films, TV, videogames)

Completed research in residency on developing a predictive model for inpatient psychiatric readmissions utilizing big data

Presented at Grand Rounds on using narrative medicine and existential psychotherapy as frameworks for understanding psychiatry training and treatment

Vivian Chan, MD

Staff Psychiatrist

MA and PhD in clinical psychology at Michigan State University

Predoctoral internship at the Michigan State University Counseling Center

Marilyn Charles, PhD, ABPP, is a staff psychologist, team leader, supervisor, and member of the therapy staff at the Austen Riggs Center.

During her predoctoral internship, she was part of the Multi-Ethnic Counseling Center Alliance (MECCA) and has continued to promote dialogues across difference in her roles as (former) president of Division 39 (Psychoanalysis) of the American Psychological Association, (current) co-chair of APCS and international coordinator of the Psychoanalytic Track at UDEM. Her writing, teaching, supervision, and consultations have focused on encouraging the development of future generations of clinicians and on promoting higher standards of practice in the field.

A poet and artist herself, Dr. Charles has worked extensively with artists, writers, and musicians. She has a special interest in the creative process and is continues to investigate factors that facilitate and inhibit creativity. She also has a particular interest in the intergenerational transmission of trauma and its relationship to psychosis. She is actively engaged in mentoring, creating professional opportunities, creating opportunities for dialogue, and promoting community involvement for those in the helping professions, including her consultation work with 

 in Sydney, Australia, and with counseling centers and residential treatment centers in this country.

International Coordinator, Universidad de Monterrey (UDEM)

Member, Association for Psychosocial Studies (APS)

Teaching Associate in Psychiatry, Cambridge Health Alliance, Harvard Medical School

Training Analyst with the Michigan Psychoanalytic Council and the Chicago Center for Psychoanalysis

 and is a member of the editorial boards of numerous psychoanalytic journals

Co-Chair of the Association for the Psychoanalysis of Culture and Society (APCS)

Winner of the American Board & Academy of Psychoanalysis (ABAPsa) Book Prize for 2020 in the Applied Category for her book co-edited with Jill Bellinson, PhD, entitled 

The Importance of Play in Early Childhood Education: Psychoanalytic, Attachment, and Developmental Perspectives

Creativity, psychosis, resilience, and the intergenerational transmission of trauma

Marilyn Charles, PhD, ABPP

Team Leader/Staff Psychologist

Predoctoral internship at Utah State Hospital

Postdoctoral Fellowship in Psychodynamic Psychotherapy and Psychoanalytic Studies at the Austen Riggs Center

Heather Churchill, PhD, is the associate director of the Therapeutic Community Program, the director of health and wellness, and a staff psychologist who provides psychotherapy and psychological testing at the Austen Riggs Center.

During her graduate training, she was a teaching assistant for several classes, including History and Systems of Psychology, as well as Cognitive and Projective Assessment. Also during her graduate training, she completed the New York Society Fellowship program, as well as the Couple and Family Fellowship program at the Washington Center for Psychoanalysis. During her internship at Utah State Hospital, she received intensive training in dialectical behavioral therapy and provided individual, group, and family therapy, as well as psychological assessments.

Churchill is a certified group relations consultant with the AK Rice Institute and former president of the Center for the Study of Groups and Social Systems, a non-profit whose mission is to further the understanding of groups dynamics and social systems.

University Fellowship Award for academic and scholarly achievement from George Washington University

The overlap between psychodynamic psychotherapy and other psychotherapies, such as dialectical behavioral therapy, as well as how integrating components of a psychodynamic approach may improve the quality of care in non-dynamic intensive treatment milieus.

Heather Churchill, PhD

Director of Health and Wellness/Associate Director of the Therapeutic Community Program

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

Carol Bersaw, RN

Spencer Biel, PsyD

Michael Blake, PsyD

Abigail Bliss, PsyD

Lisa Bozzuto, MEd, RN

Bruce Bradley Gilbert, LMHC, ATR-BC

Luke Conroy Breslin, MCom

Corinne Chadwick

Chrissy Chaffee

Vivian Chan, DO, MS

Marilyn Charles, PhD, ABPP

Heather Churchill, PsyD

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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