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Michael Morton is a sous chef at the Austen Riggs Center. 

Prior to coming to Riggs, he had extensive experience in the hospitality industry. Outside of Riggs, Michael serves as the treasurer for Pittsfield Girls Softball and is the owner/operator of E&M Knife Sharpening.

National Restaurant Association (NRA) ServSafe and Allergen Awareness 

Michael Morton

Sous Chef

Thomas Mierzejewski is a cook at the Austen Riggs Center.

Thomas Mierzejewski

Cook

Elise Miller, PhD

Visiting Scholar

MD from University of Miami School of Medicine

Residency through the Cambridge Hospital/Austen Riggs Center Combined Residency Program

Fellowship in psychoanalytic studies at the Austen Riggs Center

David Mintz, MD, is a staff psychiatrist who joined the Austen Riggs Center in 1996. He presently serves as the director of psychiatric education, the associate director of training, and as a team leader. He also is principal investigator for the research initiative in Psychodynamic Psychopharmacology and author of the book 

Psychodynamic Psychopharmacology: Caring for the Treatment-Resistant Patient

 (2022, American Psychiatric Association Publishing). Dr. Mintz also coordinates the Elective in Psychodynamic Psychiatry at the Austen Riggs Center.

Professional Affiliations/Organizational Memberships

American Psychiatric Association, former leader of the Psychotherapy Caucus

American Academy of Psychoanalysis and Dynamic Psychiatry, Psychoanalytic Fellow and elected Trustee

Medical Student Education Committee member of the American Psychoanalytic Association

Teichner Scholar at Cooper Medical School of Rowan University Psychiatry Residency Program

Psychological aspects of taking and prescribing medications, psychodynamic aspects of medical education, professionalism, and clinical care of psychiatric patients with treatment-refractory conditions.

David Mintz, MD

Director of Psychiatric Education/Associate Director of Training/Team Leader

Chelsea Mitchell, MSW, is an admissions clinician at the Austen Riggs Center. 

Chelsea Mitchell, MSW

Admissions Clinician

MFA in Studio Art from the University of South Florida

BFA in Fine Arts from Ringling College of Art & Design

Chalice Mitchell is the visual arts instructor in the Activities Program at the Austen Riggs Center.

With degrees from theory-based programs, having studied oil painting in the western tradition and ink painting in Japan, Mx. Mitchell can offer students a wide range of art practices. They support and encourage students in freely expressing themselves, learning technical skills, visualizing ideas, or just having fun and creating.

Mx. Mitchell has exhibited nationally and internationally, including shows in Tokyo, London, New York, Moscow, Athens, Wellington, and Vancouver. Their work is owned by collectors across the world and they have attended residencies in Japan, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Martha Boschen Porter Fund, Art Resource Trust Fund, Mass Cultural Council, Assets for Artists at MASS MoCA, College Art Association

Figure painting, portraiture, ink painting, marble carving, experimental animation

Chalice Mitchell

Visual Arts Instructor

MSW from Smith College School for Social Work

PhD in Social Work from Smith College School for Social Work

Graduate certificate program in Advanced Clinical Supervision at Smith College.

Cathleen M. Morey, PhD, LICSW, is the director of clinical social work at the Austen Riggs Center. She provides direct patient care, family consultation and family therapy, clinical supervision, education and training, case consultation, and administrative management of clinical social work staff.

Dr. Morey has previous clinical social work experience working in a wide range of mental health settings, including an inpatient psychiatric hospital, a correctional facility and community mental health settings.

volunteer with International Social Work Solutions

 for several years. ISWS has sponsored Dr. Morey to participate in several social work projects with international partner organizations. She has developed and presented a 2-day virtual Trauma Training Program for staff of a humanitarian NGO in the Democratic Republic of Congo. She has also partnered with a NYC non-profit agency to provide research consultation regarding data analysis of their work with under-resourced diabetic adults living in Uganda.

American Association for Psychoanalysis in Clinical Social Work

The International Society for Psychological and Social Approaches to Psychosis

Adjunct faculty of the Smith College School for Social Work

Austen Riggs social work consultant to the Association of Social Work Boards for social work continuing education accreditation

Organizational dynamics, system enactments, telehealth interventions, diversity, equity and inclusion, interdisciplinary treatment team functioning

Cathleen M. Morey, PhD, LICSW, is the director of social work at the Austen Riggs Center.

Cathleen M. Morey, PhD, LICSW

Director of Clinical Social Work

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

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

Morton Michael

Thomas Mierzejewski

Elise Miller, PhD

David Mintz, MD

Chelsea Mitchell, MSW

Chalice Mitchell, MFA

Cathleen M. Morey, PhD, LICSW

Jen Morse

Sarah Muil, MEd

John Muller, PhD

Derek Murphy, RN

Jessi Nolet

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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