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

BA in psychology from the University of North Carolina Wilmington

PhD in clinical psychology from Georgia State University

Predoctoral internship at Emory University School of Medicine

Fellowship in Psychoanalytic Studies at the Austen Riggs Center

Kathryn (Kate) Gallagher, PhD, ABPP, is a staff psychologist, clinical supervisor, and faculty member at the Austen Riggs Center. Her graduate research primarily focused on understanding and preventing violence against women, a public health crisis rooted in gender inequality and fundamental human rights issues. Now, as a full-time practicing clinician, Dr. Gallagher has shifted her attention to another significant human rights and equity issue—inadequate access to affordable mental health care. She is particularly committed to supporting efforts to appeal insurer denials of medically necessary mental health treatment.

Professional Affiliations/Organizational Memberships

Psychotherapy Action Network (PsiAN), Steering Committee Member

Board Certified in Psychoanalytic and Psychodynamic Psychology by the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP)

Board Certified in Psychoanalysis by the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP)

Kate Gallagher, PhD, ABPP

Staff Psychologist, Insurance and Utilization Review Specialist

Counseling Certificate from the Gestalt Institute of the Berkshires

Jill Gibbons, a professional fiber artist and printmaker, is the fiber arts instructor in the Activities Program at the Austen Riggs Center. She manages the fiber arts studio, a vibrant and colorful space where students can learn the skills of weaving, basketry, sewing, knitting, embroidery, dyeing, surface design, and jewelry-making.

Ms. Gibbons, who worked in family services and human development for more than 30 years, believes that through creativity, the act of making things with our own hands, we are able to facilitate growth, awareness, and healing.

Jill Gibbons is the fiber arts instructor at the Austen Riggs Center.

Jill Gibbons

Fiber Arts Instructor

Sohael Gilani, PMHNP, RN, is a per diem staff nurse at the Austen Riggs Center.

Sohael Gilani, RN, is a staff nurse at the Austen Riggs Center.

Sohael Gilani, RN

Staff Nurse

Heather Gingras, RN, is a staff nurse at the Austen Riggs Center.

Heather Gingras, RN

Evan Good, PhD, is a postdoctoral Fellow in psychodynamic psychotherapy and psychoanalytic studies who provides psychotherapy and psychological testing at the Austen Riggs Center.

Evan Good, PhD, is a fellow in psychology at the Austen Riggs Center.

Evan Good, PhD

Fellow in Psychology

Ruth Guttormsen, RN, is a staff nurse at the Austen Riggs Center.

Ruth Guttormsen, RN

MD from the American University of Beirut

Residency training in psychiatry at the Mayo Clinic 

Fellowship in psychoanalytic studies at the Austen Riggs Center

Samar Habl, MD, is the director of admissions and associate medical director at the Austen Riggs Center. Dr. Habl is a certified board psychiatrist, a psychoanalytic psychotherapist, and a team leader Austen Riggs.

Consulted at various leadership development programs in different business schools

The study of groups and social systems as it pertains to organizational life and the application of group relation theories to leadership development.

Samar Habl, MD

Director of Admissions and Associate Medical Director

Jacquelyn Harden, PsyD, is the Director of IOP Training and a psychologist in the 

 for College Students and Emerging Adults in Massachusetts at the Austen Riggs Center.

Jacquelyn Harden, PsyD

Director of IOP Training/Online IOP Psychologist 

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

Mark Hayden is the research assistant at the Austen Riggs Center.

Mark Hayden

Research Assistant

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

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

Kathryn Gallagher, PhD, ABPP

Jill Gibbons

Sohael Gilani, PMHNP, RN

Heather Gingras, RN

Evan Good, PhD

Ruth Guttormsen, RN

Samar Habl, MD

Jacquelyn Harden , PsyD

Gary Harrington

Ashley Hassinger, PsyD

Mark Hayden

Summer Heller

Contact Us for More

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

© 2026 The Austen Riggs Center

Privacy Policy

Follow us: