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

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.

Professional Affiliations/Organizational Memberships

Project Management Professional (PMP) by the Project Management Institute

Construction Supervisor License (CSL) in the state of Massachusetts

Director of Facilities

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

Liz Sample is the social work administrative assistant at the Austen Riggs Center.

Sample has a decade of experience in working with at-risk communities, serving in support and outreach with adolescents, seniors, HIV communities of color, and those impacted by addiction and mental health challenges.

Ms. Sample (lizsample.com) shows her photography at The Spencertown Arts Center and at LabSpace in Columbia County, NY.

Photography, film studies, medieval history, and Symbolist art

Social Work Administrative Assistant

BA in Literaturefrom Westfield State University

Jodi Shafiroff is the director of development and alumni relations at the Austen Riggs Center.

Ms. Shafiroff has worked for nonprofits for more than 20 years, most recently as executive director of the Becket Athenaeum. Her previous experience includes connecting startup nonprofits to the foundations most likely to give them funding, donor cultivation and management, as well as programming direction and teaching.

Ms. Shafiroff volunteers as a development consultant for several Western Massachusetts nonprofits.

Director of Development and Alumni Relations

Kevin Smith is the Network Systems Engineer at the Austen Riggs Center.

Microsoft MCITP: Enterprise Administrator

Network Systems Engineer

Joanne Stringer is the accounts payable and payroll coordinator at the Austen Riggs Center.

Accounts Payable and Payroll Coordinator 

BA from University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill

PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville

Pre-doctoral internship at the Dartmouth Medical School

Fellowship in psychoanalytic studies at the Austen Riggs Center

Graduate of the Berkshire Psychoanalytic Institute

As the Evelyn Stefansson Nef Director of the Erikson Institute, Jane G. Tillman, PhD, ABPP, works to develop existing and new programs to support psychoanalytic education, training, scholarship, research, interdisciplinary studies, and advocacy that contribute to knowledge about human development across the lifespan and the ways identity is shaped in various sociocultural and historical contexts. Developing Riggs’ institutional archives and specialty library to contribute to scholarly research is also a significant aspect of the Erikson Institute. Applying the clinical learning available at the Austen Riggs Center to larger social contexts and problems in order to contribute to our local community and beyond by improving access to mental health care, addressing issues of stigma, collaborative care, and suicide prevention are all aspects of the Erikson Institute.

As a psychotherapist and psychoanalyst, Dr. Tillman treats patients at the Center. And, as a researcher, she is interested in suicide prevention and post-vention.

Dr. Tillman presents her scholarship and research in international forums including seminars, lectures, conferences, and publications.

Prior to entering the field of psychology Dr. Tillman was a flight paramedic for UNC Air Care. She is also an Episcopal priest serving a local congregation. Dr. Tillman notes, “In my work at Riggs I am made mindful of the various traumatic situations that contribute to suffering and the psychological and spiritual questions that arise in relation to suffering and meaning making.”

Outside of Riggs Dr. Tillman serves on several editorial boards for professional journals. She volunteers to present to local organizations and churches on the topic of suicide, trauma, and other organizational issues, and has served as an organizational consultant to several psychoanalytic institutes as they sought to understand institutional challenges.

American Psychological Association Division 39 (Psychoanalysis)

Western Massachusetts Albany Association for Psychoanalytic Psychology

Board Certified by the American Board of Professional Psychology in Psychoanalysis and in Clinical Psychology

Board Certified by the American Board of Psychoanalysis

Assistant clinical professor at the Yale Child Study Center

Teaching associate in psychiatry at the Cambridge Health Alliance of Harvard Medical School

The Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association

Hans H. Strupp Award (2021) Appalachian Psychoanalytic Society

Award for Best Poster (2019) American Association of Suicidology

Ernest and Gertrude Ticho Memorial Lecture Prize (2019), American Psychoanalytic Association

Award for Excellence in Leadership (2010), Section for Women, Gender and Psychoanalysis, Division 39 of the APA

Dissociation, psychosis, religion, impasses in treatment, embodiment, clinical and professional ethics, research methodology, identifying markers for acute risk of suicide, and the effect of patient suicide on clinicians

Jane G. Tillman, PhD, ABPP, is the Evelyn Stefansson Nef Director of the Erikson Institute for Education, Research, and Advocacy at the Austen Riggs Center.

Jane G. Tillman, PhD, ABPP

Evelyn Stefansson Nef Director of the Erikson Institute for Education, Research, and Advocacy

John Zollinger, a seasoned journalist and non-profit marketing and fundraising professional, is the director of communications at the Austen Riggs Center. In this role, he manages the Center's marketing and development teams and heads initiatives such as improving data and metrics systems and revamping web and digital outreach efforts. He is also a member of the Center's senior leadership, which provides tactical and strategic direction for the organization.

Mr. Zollinger, who was formerly the assistant dean for communication and outreach at the American University School of Communication in Washington, DC, has worked for more than 20 years in higher education, philanthropic marketing, and public relations. In addition, he brings nearly a decade of prior experience in local, national, and international journalism.

A native of New England and an alumnus of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, he has worked in locations such as Beijing, Los Angeles, and Washington. Besides his undergraduate degree from UMass, he holds a master of arts in journalism from American University and a master of fine arts in screenwriting from the University of Southern California.

Director of Communications

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

Administrative Staff

Nestor Riva, MSPM, PMP, CSL

Brittany Roy

Liz Sample

Jodi Shafiroff

Kevin Smith

Joanne Stringer

Jane G. Tillman, PhD, ABPP

John Zollinger, MFA

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: