The Riggs Difference: Where Understanding Leads to Recovery
Nina Rose, PhD
Fellow in Psychology
Nina Rose, PhD
Fellow in Psychology
Education
- BA in psychology with a minor in anthropology from the University of Vermont
- MA in psychology from New York University
- PhD in clinical psychology with a health emphasis from Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology, Yeshiva University
Nina Rose, PhD, is a postdoctoral Fellow in psychodynamic psychotherapy and psychoanalytic studies who provides psychotherapy and psychological testing at the Austen Riggs Center.
Dr. Rose completed her clinical internship at the Brooklyn VA Medical Center, where she specialized in individual and group psychotherapy for veterans with serious mental illness and military sexual trauma. Her earlier training includes work as a therapist at the Pratt Institute of Art and Brooklyn College, which influenced her psychodynamic orientation and integration of the arts into her clinical work. Dr. Rose also has experience working in acute inpatient rehabilitation with patients recovering from brain and spinal cord injuries at Mount Sinai Hospital and in pediatric psycho-oncology at Westchester Medical Center and Boston Children’s Hospital. These settings cultivated a systemic, trauma-informed lens on how medical illness, identity, and relational context interact.
Clinically, Dr. Rose works from a trauma-informed, psychodynamic, and relational stance, guided by the premise that meaningful change emerges through authentic engagement, sustained curiosity, and careful attention to the therapeutic frame. She draws on philosophy and the arts to enrich the work and pays close attention to dynamics of power and authority.
These experiences directly inform her work with patients at Riggs. Dr. Rose relies on a strong therapeutic alliance as the foundation for exploration and change and actively thinks with patients about their difficulties on both an individual and systems level, considering the family, institutional, and cultural contexts that shape their lives. Within the open setting, Dr. Rose collaborates with patients to cultivate autonomy, deepen self-understanding, and engage more fully in relationships and community life, often encouraging the use of imagination and creativity as powerful resources for healing and self-exploration.
Outside of Riggs, Dr. Rose shares her research on therapeutic alliance and mindfulness-based interventions at national conferences and publishes on relational and systemic processes in psychotherapy. She also volunteers at the Brooklyn Book Festival, reflecting her passion for literature and supporting creativity and community engagement.
Professional Affiliations/Organizational Memberships
- American Psychoanalytic Association
- American Psychological Association Division 29,38, 39
- New York State Psychological Association
Certificates/Appointments
- Human Subjects Certification
- Crisis Prevention Institute (CPI) training
- Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA)
Awards/Recognitions
- Graduate stipend and merit scholarship, Yeshiva University
- “Best Poster,” North American Society for the Study of Personality Disorders
Research/Clinical Interests
- The working alliance
- Health equity
- Structural Assessment of Social Behavior (SASB)
- Intersubjectivity
- Relational trauma