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Psychology

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.

Senior Erikson Scholar

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

Evening Charge Nurse

BS in biochemistry and molecular biology from California Lutheran University

PsyD in clinical psychology from George Fox University

Predoctoral internship at the Institute of Living/Hartford Hospital.

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

Dr. Neal has worked with children, families, and adults in various community and hospital-based settings.

He has written about and presented on practicing psychoanalytic psychotherapy in school-based and primary care settings and on the impact of metacognition on psychological functioning and treatment.

Human development, primitive emotional experiences, and group phenomena

Fellow in Psychology

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

IOP Program Coordinator

Maggie O'Connor is the data and marketing specialist at the Austen Riggs Center.

Ms. O’Connor has previously held positions at the Clark Art Institute and at Christie’s, Inc., where she enjoyed a 14+ year career in the Trusts, Estates and Appraisals department. Outside of work, she enjoys photographing family portraits, nature, and daily life, while exploring the Berkshires with her family.

Data and Marketing Specialist

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

Mental Health Specialist

BA in philosophy from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill

PhD in clinical psychology from Fordham University

Pre-doctoral internship in health services psychology at the University of Virginia’s Counseling and Psychological Services

Rain Mason Olbert, PhD, is a staff psychologist and the substance use services coordinator at Austen Riggs. Dr. Olbert completed a postdoctoral Fellowship in psychodynamic psychotherapy and psychoanalytic studies at the Austen Riggs Center. 

Dr. Olbert trained as a psychotherapist in New York City in community mental health, college counseling, and hospital inpatient and outpatient settings. Before enrolling at Fordham they were employed as a research coordinator in David Penn's social cognition lab at UNC Chapel Hill, where they completed a bachelor's degree in philosophy prior to studying psychology. 

From a scholarly perspective, Dr. Olbert has presented and written on schizophrenia and severe mental illness, the nature of psychiatric diagnostic categories, phenomenology, and divination and magical thinking. 

Recently, they have taught seminars on Contemporary Psychoanalytic Perspectives on Addiction, and Transgender Psychoanalysis. As a long-time practitioner of Zen meditation, they also have an interest in spirituality and contemplative approaches to life and mental health.

Trauma, personality disorders, psychosis, substance use disorders, and queer identity development

Staff Psychologist/Substance Use Services Coordinator

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. Her previous experience includes crisis intervention, work with the homeless, consulting to community organizations, and teaching undergraduate psychopathology and social psychology.

Professional Affiliations/Organizational Memberships

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

Psychoanalysis and the dynamics of social systems

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.

PhD in Clinical Psychology from The Derner School at Adelphi University

Predoctoral Internship at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School

Fellowship in Psychoanalytic Studies at the Austen Riggs Center

Seth Pitman, PhD, is the Associate Director of the Remote Access Intensive Outpatient Program for College Students in Massachusetts as well as a psychologist in the program. 

Dr. Pitman has provided psychodynamic and integrative psychotherapy services at psychiatric hospitals, community mental health centers, and a university-based clinic, in both individual and group formats. He has also been trained in neuropsychological testing and consultation-liaison psychology services.

Dr. Pitman’s peer-reviewed research articles have focused on the relationship between psychodynamic techniques and therapy outcome, the impact of patient personality factors on the therapeutic process, and trauma. His original research has earned him recognition from APA’s Division 29–Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, Training.

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

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

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

Associate Director of Remote Access IOP 

MD from the Columbia Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons

Fellowship in psychoanalytic studies at the Austen Riggs Center

As the medical director/CEO of Riggs, which is a non-profit, Eric Plakun, MD, reports to a dedicated Board of Trustees. He is responsible for all areas of the institution from the provision of patient care to the operational mechanics and strategic planning. 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 40 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

Medical Director/CEO

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

John Muller, PhD

Derek Murphy, RN

David Neal, PsyD

Jessi Nolet

Maggie O'Connor

Brian O'Gara

Rain Mason Olbert, PhD

Steven Osei-Mireku, RN

Margaret Parish, PhD

Katrina Perez, RN

Seth Pitman, PhD

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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