Activities Staff

Administrative Staff

Finance

Human Resources

Information Technology (IT)

Communications

Admissions Staff

Clinical Social Workers

Erikson Institute Distinguished Faculty

Erikson Institute Staff

Faculty

Leadership

Nursing Staff

Remote Access Intensive Outpatient Program

Therapeutic Community Staff

Therapy Staff

Fellows

Psychology

Donna Plankey is the accounts receivable & insurance billing coordinator at the Austen Riggs Center.

Accounts Receivable & Insurance Billing Coordinator

As part of the therapeutic community Nick Pohl, MSW, supports the patient community and leads groups. His interest in the outdoors lends itself nicely to hosting various outings that engage the many natural treasures within Berkshire County.

Before coming to Riggs, Mr. Pohl served as dean of students at John Dewey Academy where he oversaw all residential matters for their adolescent, community-based therapeutic program including working with the students to develop community living standards, and leading groups and activities. Prior to his time at John Dewey Academy, Mr. Pohl served as the director of career development at Concordia College, and executive director of Housatonic Youth Services Bureau.

Mr. Pohl has a wide variety of interests outside of work, including, climbing, hiking, and travel.

Assistant Program Manager/Therapeutic Community Staff Member

Cheryl Puntil, MN, APRN, PMH-CNS, BC, is the chief nursing officer at the Austen Riggs Center. The Austen Riggs Center specializes in the long-term treatment of persons with psychiatric disorders with intensive psychodynamic psychotherapy promoting resilience and self-direction in adults (18+) with complex psychiatric problems.

She has more than 40 years of psychiatric mental health (PMH) experience and has worked in specialty areas such as geriatric, medical, and adult psychiatric nursing. Her expertise lies in caring for: those who have diagnoses of depression, dementia, and delirium; those at risk for suicide; and those receiving electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). She was a clinical nurse specialist (CNS) at the Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital at UCLA for more than 20 years and was most recently an instructor at Hawaii Community College, where she was on the tenure track teaching ASN/LPN students.

Ms. Puntil has a passion for advocating for nursing professionalism in the healthcare arena and the practice of psychodynamic nursing.

Professional Affiliations/Organizational Memberships

American Psychiatric Nurses Association (APNA) member

Berkshire Coalition for Suicide Prevention (BCSP) board member

Lead trainer in the APNA facilitator suicide prevention training

Served on a task force for the APNA Education Committee to develop registered nurse (RN) competencies for the assessment and management of individuals at risk for suicide in the in-patient setting which resulted in publication and curriculum course development (Advocates of Hope)

Partnered with other experts to be a part of the APNA Transitions in Practice (ATP) certificate program, co-teaching risk assessment and mental status exam

APNA Annual Award for Distinguished Service / 2017

Suicide prevention, ECT, counter-transference and transference (boundaries), depression, open setting residential care, therapeutic community

Chief Nursing Officer

BA from University Without Walls at UMass Amherst

MSW from Boston College School of Social Work

Molly Reider, LICSW, is a clinical social worker at the Austen Riggs Center.

Mx. Reider has clinical social work experience in the adult inpatient setting and community mental health working with children, youth, and families.

Member of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW)

Member of the Cognitive Neuroscience Society (CNS)

Certificate in Neuroscience and Social Work from Boston College School of Social Work

The use of games and play to encourage social learning and the integration of neuroscience into social work practice

Molly Reider, LICSW

Clinical Social Worker

Residency in psychiatry at the Massachusetts Mental Health Center

Graduate of the Washington Psychoanalytic Institute

David Reiss, MD, is a distinguished faculty member in the Erikson Institute for Education, Research, and Advocacy of the Austen Riggs Center. 

Dr. Reiss was the Director of the Division of Research and the Center for Family Research at George Washington University Medical Center in Washington, D.C., as well as Vivian Gill Distinguished Research Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences there. He has published many articles and books investigating the relationship between genetic and psychosocial factors and forming testable models of behavioral development across the life span. Also trained in psychoanalysis, he has been committed to postdoctoral research training in psychiatry and the behavioral sciences.

Clinical professor of child psychiatry at Yale

Adolf Meyer Award from the American Psychiatric Association

Distinguished Faculty in the Erikson Institute for Education, Research, and Advocacy  

BS in psychology from the University of Texas

PsyD in clinical psychology from George Washington University

Predoctoral internship at Pathways Community Health in Missouri

Fellowship in Psychoanalytic Studies at the Austen Riggs Center

Board Certified by the American Board and Academy of Psychoanalysis

Jeremy M. Ridenour, PsyD, ABPP, is the director of psychological testing, associate director of admissions, and a staff psychologist at the Austen Riggs Center. He is also the chair of the Erikson Scholar Search Committee.

He has written and presented on schizophrenia, paranoia, personality disorders, and psychological testing.

Psychotherapeutic treatment of individuals with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders with a particular focus in understanding how targeting mentalization (i.e. how people think about self and other) can be an important focus for recovery. In addition, he has conducted psychological assessment research on personality disorders and psychosis

Jeremy Ridenour, PsyD, ABPP, is the associate director of admissions and the director of psychological testing at the Austen Riggs Center.

Jeremy Ridenour, PsyD, ABPP

Associate Director of Admissions/Director of Psychological Testing

BA in operations management from the University of Massachusetts

MS in project management from Boston University

Marketing and Communications at San Ignacio De Loyola University–Lima Peru

Nestor Riva, MSPM, PMP, CSL, is the director of facilities at the Austen Riggs Center and is responsible for directing the execution of critical capital projects. He provides leadership to the facilities department and oversees the functioning of all buildings and systems including maintenance, housekeeping, and contractors. Mr. Riva is appointed by the medical director/CEO as the safety manager of the Center. In addition, he is chair of the Environment of Care Committee and responsible for compliance with the Joint Commission, federal, state, local and other regulatory agencies.

Mr. Riva is a strategic operations and project management professional with many years of combined experience in facilities operations, project management, construction and leadership. He has expertise in multiple industries, and has led and managed multiple priorities and critical projects from inception to completion.

Project Management Professional (PMP) by the Project Management Institute

Construction Supervisor License (CSL) in the state of Massachusetts

Director of Facilities

PsyD in clinical psychology from the George Washington University

Predoctoral internship at the Albany Psychology Internship Consortium

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

Dr. river has provided psychological assessment and psychoanalytic psychotherapy in community mental health clinics, academic medical centers, and psychiatric hospital settings.

While pursuing a doctoral degree in Washington DC, they completed a psychoanalytic fellowship with the Washington-Baltimore Center for Psychoanalysis. They also served as the event planning assistant for the Contemporary Freudian Society and participated in the CFS psychoanalytic fellowship program for three years.

Through their experiences in psychoanalytic communities both in the United States and in Vienna, Austria, Dr. river has developed an appreciation for the ways in which intrapsychic, familial, institutional, and cultural contexts shape identity and relationships.

madeline river, PsyD, is a fellow in psychology at the Austen Riggs Center.

madeline river, PsyD

Fellow in Psychology

Arti Roots Ross is a Therapeutic Community staff member at the Austen Riggs Center.

Therapeutic Community Staff Member

BA in psychology from Southern Illinois University

MSW from the University of North Carolina

David Rosenthal, LICSW, is a clinical social worker at the Austen Riggs Center. He provides direct patient care, family consultation, and family therapy.

Mr. Rosenthal has 28 years of clinical social work experience working at Bennington College, the Brien Center, and most recently at Berkshire Medical Center.

Former associate professor of psychology at Southern Vermont College

David Rosenthal, LICSW, is a clinical social worker at the Austen Riggs Center.

David Rosenthal, LICSW

Brittany Roy is the HR/payroll specialist at the Austen Riggs Center.

Prior to working at Austen Riggs, Ms. Roy was the payroll, benefits, and systems specialist at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health. Prior to working at Kripula, she was employed at Paydata processing and setting up payrolls.

HR/Payroll Specialist

Emma Ryan is the lead nursery school teacher at the Austen Riggs Center.

Lead Nursery School Teacher

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

Donna Plankey

Nick Pohl, MSW

Cheryl Puntil, MN, APRN, PMH-CNS, BC

Molly Reider, LICSW

David Reiss, MD

Jeremy Ridenour, PsyD, ABPP

Nestor Riva, MSPM, PMP, CSL

madeline river, PsyD

Arti Roots Ross

David Rosenthal, LICSW

Brittany Roy

Emma Ryan

Contact Us for More

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

© 2023 The Austen Riggs Center

Privacy Policy

Follow us: