Activities Staff

Administrative Staff

Finance

Human Resources

Information Technology (IT)

Development

Dietary

Communications

Admissions Staff

Clinical Social Workers

Erikson Institute Staff

Faculty

Leadership

Nursing Staff

Online Intensive Outpatient Program

Senior Erikson Scholar

Therapeutic Community Staff

Therapy Staff

Fellows

Psychology

Gary Harrington is the system administrator at the Austen Riggs Center. He supports the clinical mission by assuring documentation software is operational and secure. With the rest of the IT team, he address a variety of hardware needs and troubleshoots problems as needed. In addition, he provides orientation and education to new staff.

Mr. Harrington has worked at Riggs since 1981; first in nursing, then in performance improvement, and finally in IT. His various roles have given him the unique opportunity to become familiar with the institution from different perspectives, both clinical and non-clinical.

Outside of Riggs, Mr. Harrington is involved with the Western Mass Medical Reserve Corps (radio communications and participation in disaster response as needed).

System Administrator

BA in psychology from The Pennsylvania State University

BA in business management from The Pennsylvania State University

MA in applied psychological sciences from Pacific University

PsyD in clinical psychology from Pacific University

Ashley Hassinger, PsyD, is a postdoctoral Fellow in psychodynamic psychotherapy and psychoanalytic studies who provides psychotherapy and psychological testing at the Austen Riggs Center.

Before starting at Riggs, she trained in outpatient community mental health, community-based intensive outpatient, and inpatient hospital settings. Her dissertation examined the similarities and differences between complex PTSD, Borderline Personality Disorder, and Dissociative Identity Disorder in order to propose an alteration to the current diagnostic system that better reflects these findings.

Influence of childhood trauma on the development of personality and meaning making

Ashley Hassinger, PsyD

Fellow in Psychology

BA in psychology and education from Bard College at Simon’s Rock

Summer Heller is the Executive Assistant to the Medical Director/CEO and the Erikson Institute Program Assistant.

She previously worked as an intern to the Dean of Studies at Bard College at Simon’s Rock. In this role she was responsible for institutional data keeping, updating the school's communications processed, and serving as a liaison between students and administration.

Summer Heller

Executive Assistant to the Medical Director/CEO & Erikson Institute Program Assistant

A board-certified psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, and clinical educator, Oscar F. Hills, MD, is the Medical Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Austen Riggs Center. As Medical Director, Dr. Hills is responsible for ensuring that Riggs delivers the highest quality clinical care to the adults it serves. As Chief Executive Officer, he is responsible for the financial health and long-term viability of the institution—a charge that requires clear-eyed leadership in an increasingly competitive and rapidly evolving behavioral health landscape.

For more than 14 years, Dr. Hills directed the Psychiatric Emergency Room and Acute Psychiatric Services at the VA Connecticut Healthcare System’s West Haven campus, overseeing inpatient, emergency, residential, and consultation-liaison services in a high-acuity institutional setting. A longtime clinical faculty member at Yale University School of Medicine, he has supervised and trained psychiatric residents and other trainees throughout his career and has taught courses ranging from psychotherapy foundations to psychodynamic approaches to psychosis and character disorders. His published work spans psychoanalytic theory, emergency psychiatry, and the application of psychodynamic thinking to clinical and institutional settings.

Psychodynamic treatment and psychoanalysis

Professional Affiliations / Organizational Memberships

Member, Western New England Psychoanalytic Society

Member, American Psychoanalytic Association

Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine

Diplomate, American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology

Certified in Adult Psychoanalysis, American Psychoanalytic Association

Training and Supervising Psychoanalyst, Western New England Institute for Psychoanalysis

Co-chair, Site-Visit Committee, the American Association for Psychoanalytic Education

Outstanding Clinical Faculty Member Award, Yale Department of Psychiatry (2013)

Malcolm Bowers Rounds Teaching Award (2000, 2005)

Service Award, Department of Veterans Affairs (2004)

Yale Psychiatric Residents Association Teaching Award (1998–99)

Medical Director and CEO

MD from the George Washington School of Medicine and Health Sciences in Washington, DC

Psychiatry residency at Walter Reed NMMC in Bethesda, MD

Shane Hodson, MD, is a Fellow in psychoanalytic studies at the Austen Riggs Center.

Psychiatry (American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology)

Shane Hodson, MD

Fellow in Psychiatry

Anna Horton is a mental health specialist at the Austen Riggs Center.

Anna Horton

Mental Health Specialist

Peter Hummel, MA, is the Therapeutic Community Center group and activities coordinator and a senior program manager at the Austen Riggs Center.

Peter Hummel, MA

Therapeutic Community Center Group and Activities Coordinator/Senior Program Manager

Yelena Ivlieva, MA, is a mental health specialist at the Austen Riggs Center.

Yelena Ivlieva is a mental health specialist at the Austen Riggs Center.

Yelena Ivlieva

Margaret Jackson, LICSW, is a clinical social worker at the Austen Riggs Center.

Clinical Social Worker Margaret Jackson, LICSW

Margaret Jackson, LICSW

Clinical Social Worker

Thomas Jacques, CARN, is a staff nurse at the Austen Riggs Center.

Thomas Jacques, CARN

Staff Nurse

BS in Cellular-Molecular Biology from the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus

MD from the University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus

General Psychiatry Residency at the University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus

Gabriel Jiménez Ocasio, MD, is a Fellow in psychoanalytic studies at the Austen Riggs Center.

Professional Affiliations/Organizational Memberships

American Academy of Psychodynamic Psychiatry and Psychoanalysis

2-year Certification in Psychodynamic Psychotherapy from the Florida Psychoanalytic Center

Gabriel Jimenez Ocasio, MD

Kelsey Jordan, RN, is a staff nurse at the Austen Riggs Center. Her prior experience includes medical-surgical and critical care nursing at Berkshire Medical Center. She has worked with patients and loved ones struggling with alcohol or substance use disorders, cognitive changes, and depressive or anxiety disorders. Her personal experience motivates her to learn and engage in these areas and more.

Mental Health First Aid Certification, National Council for Mental Wellbeing

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

Gary Harrington

Ashley Hassinger, PsyD

Summer Heller

Oscar F. Hills, MD

Shane Hodson, MD

Anna Horton

Peter Hummel, MA

Yelena Ivlieva, MA

Margaret Jackson, LICSW

Thomas Jacques, CARN

Gabriel Jiménez Ocasio, MD

Kelsey Jordan, RN

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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