Activities Staff

Administrative Staff

Finance

Human Resources

Information Technology (IT)

Development

Communications

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Clinical Social Workers

Erikson Institute Distinguished Faculty

Erikson Institute Staff

Faculty

Leadership

Nursing Staff

Online Intensive Outpatient Program

Therapeutic Community Staff

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Fellows

Psychology

Jen Morse is the greenhouse instructor in the Activities Program at the Austen Riggs Center.

Jen Morse

Greenhouse Instructor

BA in interdisciplinary studies from Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA)

MEd from the Lynch School of Education and Human Development at Boston College

Sarah Muil, MEd, is the Austen Riggs Nursery School director.

Prior to coming to Riggs, Mrs. Muil worked as an Education Supervisor at Head Start, ensuring the quality of the curriculum and teaching. Over the past 20 years, she has served as a teacher in a number of preschool programs, including the Lenox Children’s Center, Berkshire Country Day School, and Williams College Children’s Center.

Director (I and II) as well as a Lead Teacher credentials through the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care

Certificate in Social Justice and Leadership from the Lynch School of Education and Human Development at Boston College

Sarah Muil, MEd is the Austen Riggs Center Nursery School Director.

Sarah Muil, MEd

Nursery School Director

John P. Muller, PhD, is the former director of training and a staff psychologist at the Austen Riggs Center. Before coming to Riggs in 1975 he was chair of the Department of Human Services, Sinte Gleska College, at the Rosebud Sioux Reservation in South Dakota, consultant for Indian and Migrant Head Start Programs at the Office for Child Development, and member of the Poverty and Minorities Subcommittee of the Membership Committee of the National Association for Retarded Citizens.

Beyond the Psychoanalytic Dyad: Developmental Semiotics in Freud, Peirce, and Lacan

 (New York: Routledge, 1996). He coauthored (with W. J. Richardson) 

Lacan and Language: A Reader’s Guide to Ecrits

 (New York: International Universities Press, 1982), and (with W. J. Richardson) 

 by P. Julien ( Paris: Eres, 1987). Muller co-edited (with W. J. Richardson) 

The Purloined Poe: Lacan, Derrida, and Psychoanalytic Reading

 (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1988) and (with J. Brent) 

 ( Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000). Dr. Muller twice received the Felix and Helena Deutsch Scientific Award from the Boston Psychoanalytic Society. He was the Erikson Scholar at Riggs in 1992-1993.

Dr. Muller graduated from the Boston Psychoanalytic Institute and received his PhD from Harvard University. He has published over 40 articles and chapters in the field of semiotics and psychoanalysis. He is coordinator of the Lacanian Clinical Forum, and has presented his work nationally and internationally. He is a founding member of the Berkshire Psychoanalytic Institute.

John P Muller, PhD

Senior Erikson Scholar

Derek Murphy, RN, is a staff nurse at the Austen Riggs Center.

Derek Murphy, RN

Evening Charge Nurse

Jessi Nolet began her career at Riggs as the social work assistant and quickly added the role of the administrative assistant to the Medical Director/CEO to her responsibilities. After being promoted to Eric Plakun’s executive assistant in the fall of 2020, Ms. Nolet served on the IOP Planning Committee and was thrilled to be named the IOP Program Coordinator in the spring of 2021. 

Ms. Nolet has experience in real estate, retail management, and sales. In addition, she has worked as a knitter/dyer and held various positions in costume arts. She lives in Stockbridge, MA with her two children and her miniature schnauzer, Frida.

Jessi Nolet is the IOP program coordinator at the Austen Riggs Center.

Jessi Nolet

Online IOP Program Coordinator

Brian O'Gara is a mental health specialist at the Austen Riggs Center.

Mental Health Specialist

Gary Osborne, MFA, MAT, is a substance use counselor and the assistant program manager of the IRP-G at the Austen Riggs Center.

He has previous experience with family coaching.

Training Certificate from the Anthroposophical Psychology Association

Professional Affiliations/Organizational Memberships

Anthroposophical Psychology Association member

Gary Osborne, MFA, MAT

Substance Use Counselor

Steven Osei-Mireku, RN, is a staff nurse at the Austen Riggs Center.

Steven Osei-Mireku, RN

Staff Nurse

PhD in clinical psychology from Derner Institute at Adelphi University

Postdoctoral fellowship in psychoanalytic studies at the Austen Riggs Center

Margaret Parish, PhD, is the director of patient care. A clinical psychologist, she provides and supervises psychotherapy, psychological assessment, and group consultation. She is interested in the unconscious dynamics of groups, families, communities, workplaces, and other social systems, and their impact on individual psychology.

A K Rice Institute certified group relations consultant

International Society for the Psychoanalytic Study of Organizations

American Psychological Association (APA) divisions 39 (Psychoanalysis) 29 (Psychotherapy) and 49 (Group)

Center for the Study of Groups and Social Systems former board president and secretary

American Journal of Psychoanalysis editorial board

Margaret Parish, PhD, is the director of patient care at the Austen Riggs Center.

Margaret Parish, PhD

Director of Patient Care

Katrina Perez, RN, is a staff nurse at the Austen Riggs Center.

Katrina Perez, RN

PhD in Clinical Psychology from The Derner School at Adelphi University

Predoctoral Internship at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School

Seth Pitman, PhD, ABPP, is the Associate Director of the 

 for College Students and Emerging Adults in Massachusetts at the Austen Riggs Center. In addition to providing individual therapy and leading groups, Dr. Pitman designed and manages the IOP's measurement-based care initiative, an evidence-based practice of using systematic and routine assessment to inform treatment decisions and engage patients in their care.

Dr. Pitman is passionate about integrating clinical research and practice to improve treatment outcomes and foster communication within the field of mental healthcare. He is committed to translating what we know works best for patients to policymakers and organizations that have a hand in guiding resources and helping improve access to quality care for all, including those from economically, racially, and gender diverse backgrounds.

APA Division 29 – Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, Training

Society of Personality Assessment (SPA), Martin Mayman Award (2021)

Division 29, Jeffrey E. Barnett Psychotherapy Research Paper Award recipient (2017)

Adelphi University, George Stricker Fellowship Award, 2nd place recipient (2015)

Seth Pitman, PhD, ABPP

Associate Director of Online IOP 

MD from the Columbia Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons

Fellowship in psychoanalytic studies at the Austen Riggs Center

Eric Plakun, MD, is the Senior Consultant to the Erikson Institute for Education, Research, and Advocacy and the former Medical Director/CEO of the Austen Riggs Center (2018-2024). He has a particular interest in mental health advocacy, full implementation of the mental health parity law, access-to-care issues, and reducing health disparities.

Dr. Plakun was the director of admissions for 35 years and has dedicated nearly his entire professional career to Riggs (more than 45 years) and its unique way of looking at and treating mental disorders. Other roles have included treatment team leader, psychotherapy supervisor, and co-principal investigator of a prospective, longitudinal study of treatment outcome.

Dr. Plakun has long been active in the American Psychiatric Association as a voice advancing the importance of psychotherapy as part of the identity and skills of psychiatrists, and as a member of the Assembly Executive Committee and Board of Trustees. He served as Plaintiffs’ expert on adult mental disorders in the landmark Wit v. United Behavioral Health federal class-action. The strong plaintiffs’ verdict was hailed as a “game-changer” in the implementation of the mental health parity law by Former Congressman Patrick Kennedy.

 (APA) - APA Board of Trustees member representing New England and Eastern Canada

Psychoanalytic Fellow and former Trustee of the 

American Academy of Psychodynamic Psychiatry and Psychoanalysis

 and member of its College of Research Fellows

Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry Psychotherapy Committee

National Association for Behavioral Healthcare

Board-certified psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, researcher, and forensic psychiatrist

Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association

2003 Massachusetts Psychiatric Society “Outstanding Psychiatrist in Clinical Psychiatry”

2017 Honored by American Psychoanalytic Association for “Championing psychoanalytic and psychodynamic psychotherapy treatment within American psychiatry and paving the way towards a return to a more individualized treatment model”

Diagnosis, treatment, longitudinal course, and outcome of patients with borderline personality disorder and treatment-resistant disorders

Eric M. Plakun, MD,

Senior Consultant, 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

Jen Morse

Sarah Muil, MEd

John Muller, PhD

Derek Murphy, RN

Jessi Nolet

Brian O'Gara

Gary Osborne, MFA, MAT

Steven Osei-Mireku, RN

Margaret Parish, PhD, ABPP

Katrina Perez, RN

Seth Pitman, PhD, ABPP

Eric M. Plakun, MD, DLFAPA, FACPsych

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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