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

Online Intensive Outpatient Program

Therapeutic Community Staff

Therapy Staff

Fellows

Psychology

PhD in clinical psychology from the Brooklyn campus of Long Island University

Pre-doctoral internship and postdoctoral fellowship at Albany Medical Center

Katie C. Lewis, PhD, is the director of research and medical staff member at the Austen Riggs Center. Her research focuses on examining personality processes in adults diagnosed with complex psychopathology as they relate to suicidal and self-destructive behaviors. Her research has been supported by the Robert Wallerstein Fellowship in Psychoanalytic Research (San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis), a Young Investigator Grant through the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, an Exploratory/Developmental Research Grant through the NIMH, and the APF/Division 39 Marsha McCary Grant for Psychoanalytic Research.

She has published and presented on a wide range of topics including suicide and self-harming behaviors, personality psychopathology and assessment, and the ethics of confidentiality in clinical writing. Dr. Lewis is a licensed clinical psychologist in New York and Massachusetts and operates a small private psychotherapy practice in addition to her work at Austen Riggs.

Professional Affiliations/Organizational Memberships

Former graduate student representative on the Ethics Board of Division 39

Former Fellow of the American Psychoanalytic Association (ApsaA)

Former Fellow, Psychoanalytic Research Training Program, Yale University School of Medicine

Founding member of the College of Research Fellows at APsaA

Board of the Society for Personality Assessment Representative at Large (2023-2026)

Fellowship Committee member, American Psychoanalytic Association

Consulting editor and special section editor (Clinical Applications and Case Studies) for the 

American Association of Suicidology Professional Poster Award (2019)

PPRS Stuart Hauser Memorial Poster Award (2014)

Long Island University's Dissertation Award (2014)

Suicide, personality disorders, ecological momentary assessment, psychic pain, personality assessment

Katie Lewis, PhD, is the director of research at the Austen Riggs Center.

Katie Lewis, PhD

Director of Research

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.

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.

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

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.

Dr. Morey has been a 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

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

MD from the Columbia Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

Leadership

Katie Lewis, PhD

David Mintz, MD

Cathleen M. Morey, PhD, LICSW

Margaret Parish, PhD, ABPP

Eric M. Plakun, MD, DLFAPA, FACPsych

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

Jeremy Ridenour, PsyD, ABPP

Nestor Riva, MSPM, PMP, CSL

Jodi Shafiroff

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.

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