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Psychology

BA in psychology from The Pennsylvania State University

BA in business management from The Pennsylvania State University

MA in applied psychological sciences from Pacific University

PsyD in clinical psychology from Pacific University

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

Before starting at Riggs, she trained in outpatient community mental health, community-based intensive outpatient, and inpatient hospital settings. Her dissertation examined the similarities and differences between complex PTSD, Borderline Personality Disorder, and Dissociative Identity Disorder in order to propose an alteration to the current diagnostic system that better reflects these findings.

Influence of childhood trauma on the development of personality and meaning making

Ashley Hassinger, PsyD

Fellow in Psychology

MD from the George Washington School of Medicine and Health Sciences in Washington, DC

Psychiatry residency at Walter Reed NMMC in Bethesda, MD

Shane Hodson, MD, is a Fellow in psychoanalytic studies at the Austen Riggs Center.

Psychiatry (American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology)

Shane Hodson, MD

Fellow in Psychiatry

BS in Cellular-Molecular Biology from the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus

MD from the University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus

General Psychiatry Residency at the University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus

Gabriel Jiménez Ocasio, MD, is a Fellow in psychoanalytic studies at the Austen Riggs Center.

Professional Affiliations/Organizational Memberships

American Academy of Psychodynamic Psychiatry and Psychoanalysis

2-year Certification in Psychodynamic Psychotherapy from the Florida Psychoanalytic Center

Gabriel Jimenez Ocasio, MD

MS in counseling psychology with an emphasis in marriage and family therapy from California Lutheran University

PsyD in clinical psychology from California Lutheran University

Fellowship in Infant-Parent Mental Health at the University of Massachusetts Boston

Fellowship in psychoanalytic studies at the Austen Riggs Center

Dan Knauss, PsyD, ABPP, is the director of training, a staff psychologist, and vice-chair of the Institutional Review Board at the Austen Riggs Center. 

He holds interests in infant mental health, epistemic trust in systems of care, and mentalization informed approaches to treatment. Dr. Knauss is board certified in psychoanalysis and is active in organizations promoting psychoanalytic thinking and approaches to treatment. He serves on the boards of the Accreditation Council for Psychoanalytic Education, Inc., the American Board and Academy of Psychoanalytic and Psychodynamic Psychology, and as a Member at Large on the board for The Society for Psychoanalysis and Psychoanalytic Psychology, Division 39, of the American Psychological Association. 

In addition, he serves on the Editorial Board for 

 and formerly served on the Editorial Board of the 

Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association

. He is passionate about psychoanalytic education and supervision.

Board Certified by the American Board and Academy of Psychoanalysis

Member at large on the Board of The Society for Psychoanalysis and Psychoanalytic Psychology (SPPP), Division 39, The American Psychological Association

Mentalization-informed approaches to treatment, infant and early-childhood mental health, and working with expectant parents.

Daniel Knauss, PsyD, APBB

Director of Training/Staff Psychologist/Grand Rounds Coordinator

BAs in psychology and criminal justice from Virginia Commonwealth University

PsyD in clinical psychology from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology

Two-year fellowship with the Chicago Center for Psychoanalysis

Student in the International Psychotherapy Institute Combined Child Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis Training Program

Megan Kolano, PsyD, is a staff psychologist, assistant team leader, and faculty member at the Austen Riggs Center.

Dr. Kolano has worked clinically in a variety of contexts including correctional centers, community-based residential settings, psychiatric hospitals, psychoanalytic institutes, and outpatient private practices.

Dr. Kolano enjoys writing, teaching and has taught courses related to psychological testing and psychoanalytic theory and practice. She has presented professionally on subjects such as schizophrenia, psychosis and spiritual experiences, object-relating and subject-relating in adolescent texting, working psychoanalytically with individuals with developmental disabilities, and humor and horror in teaching the Rorschach. She also maintains a private practice where she treats adults, adolescents, and children.

Center for the Study of Groups and Social Systems (CSGSS)

A.K. Rice Institute for the Study of Social Systems (AKRI)

American Psychoanalytic Association (APSaA)

AKRI Training and Certification in group consultancy

Certified in psychoanalysis by the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABAPsa)

Accreditation Council for Psychoanalytic Education (ACPEinc) Board of Trustees member

Megan Kolano, PsyD, is an assistant team leader and staff psychologist at the Austen Riggs Center.

Megan Kolano, PsyD

Assistant Team Leader/Staff Psychologist

Psychiatry Residency in Mayo Clinic School of Graduate Medical Education, Rochester, MN

MD from Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine, Scottsdale, AZ

MS in the Science of Health Care Delivery from Arizona State University

BS in Bioscience from Farmingdale State College

Terence Meyerhoefer, MD, MS, is a Fellow in psychoanalytic studies at the Austen Riggs Center.

Terence Meyerhoefer, MD

MD from University of Miami School of Medicine

Residency through the Cambridge Hospital/Austen Riggs Center Combined Residency Program

David Mintz, MD joined the Austen Riggs Center in 1996. He is a staff psychiatrist, the Director of Psychiatric Education and Associate Director of Training, and director of the Elective in Psychodynamic Psychiatry at the Austen Riggs Center.

A passionate educator and advocate for the importance of patient-centered and psychodynamically-informed perspectives in psychiatry, he has given hundreds of national presentations and has authored of dozens of publications addressing issues of psychodynamic education and psychodynamically-informed approaches to pharmacologic treatment resistance, including 

Psychodynamic Psychopharmacology: Caring for the Treatment-Resistant Patient

 (2022, American Psychiatric Association Publishing).

American Psychiatric Association, former Chair of the Psychotherapy Caucus

American Academy of Psychoanalysis and Dynamic Psychiatry, Psychoanalytic Fellow and former elected Trustee

American Association of Directors of Psychiatry Residency Training, member of the Psychotherapy Committee

American Psychoanalytic Association, member of the Medical Student Education Committee

Massachusetts Psychiatric Society, member of the Psychotherapy Committee

Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry, member of the Psychopharmacology Committee

Editorial Board Member of The American Journal of Psychotherapy

Teichner Scholar of the AAPDPP/AADPRT in both 2022 and 2023

 for the most outstanding article published in 2018-2019, for the paper “Recovery from Childhood Psychiatric Treatment: Addressing the Meaning of Medications”

APA Masterclass on “The Art of Psychopharmacology” selected as APA Course of the Month in both 2023 and 2024

Massachusetts Psychiatric Society 2024 Outstanding Psychiatrist Award for Education

Edith Sabshin Teaching Award of the American Psychoanalytic Association, January 2026

Psychological aspects of taking and prescribing medications, psychodynamic aspects of medical education, professionalism, and clinical care of psychiatric patients with treatment-refractory conditions.

Free Online CE/CME Courses Led By David L. Mintz, MD

Psychodynamic Psychopharmacology - David Mintz, MD (Recorded)

Meaning-Based Harm from Medications: Clinical and Ethical Implications - David Mintz, MD (Recorded self study)

Thinking About Prescribing: Psychodynamically-Informed, Patient-Centered Approaches to Pharmacotherapy (1 of 5) - David L. Mintz, MD (Recorded)

The Science of the Art of Psychopharmacology: An Introduction to the (Other) Evidence Base (2 of 5) - David L. Mintz, MD (Recorded)

Psychodynamics of Pharmacologic Treatment-Resistance (3 of 5) - David L. Mintz, MD (Recorded)

Psychodynamic Psychopharmacology: Caring for the Treatment-Resistant Patient (4 of 5) - David L. Mintz, MD (Recorded)

Integrating Care: Combining Medications and Psychotherapy (5 of 5) - David L. Mintz, MD (Recorded self study)

2023 Fall Conference Part 3: Psychodynamic Technique in Pharmacotherapy (Recorded)

David Mintz, MD

Director of Psychiatric Education/Associate Director of Training

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

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

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 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.

American Psychological Association Division 29,38, 39

Crisis Prevention Institute (CPI) training

Graduate stipend and merit scholarship, Yeshiva University

“Best Poster,” North American Society for the Study of Personality Disorders

Structural Assessment of Social Behavior (SASB)

Nina Rose, PhD

BA in psychology with a minor in Spanish from North Carolina State University

MS in clinical psychology from Florida Institute of Technology

Predoctoral Internship in clinical psychology at The Menninger Clinic

PsyD in clinical psychology from Florida Institute of Technology

Postdoctoral Fellowship in clinical psychology at The Menninger Clinic

Postdoctoral Fellowship in applied clinical research at Houston Methodist Hospital

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

His clinical approach emphasizes partnership as patients work towards their goals and a broader mission of transformative self-understanding.  In addition to clinical care, Dr. Rucker is a researcher who has published in several peer-reviewed journals and presented at (inter)national conferences. 

Dr. Rucker has worked in outpatient, inpatient, and partial hospital programs with patients who have severe and complex psychiatric conditions. His clinical and research interests concern those with longstanding psychological troubles where prior treatments have produced marginal, if any, success.

In his spare time, Dr. Rucker enjoys weightlifting, watching college basketball, and reading.

North American Society for the Study of Personality Disorders

International Society for the Study of Personality Disorders

Clinical Affiliate Assistant Professor at the Baylor College of Medicine

Outstanding Clinical Student Award, Florida Institute of Technology (2022)

Paul Baer Research Award, Baylor College of Medicine (2023)

Research Innovation Trainee Scholar Award, The Menninger Clinic (2023 & 2024)

Empirically evaluating psychoanalytic concepts

John Rucker, PsyD

PsyD in clinical psychology from Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology at Yeshiva University

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

Before starting at Riggs, she trained in university, outpatient community health, and inpatient hospital settings. Her dissertation used a dynamic systems lens to compare rupture and repair in the therapeutic alliance with body movement synchrony during therapy sessions. Her clinical interests include enactive cognition, gender and sexuality, and somatic and contemplative traditions as they relate to psychodynamic psychotherapy.

Hannah Schmitt, PsyD

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

Therapy Staff

Ashley Hassinger, PsyD

Shane Hodson, MD

Gabriel Jiménez Ocasio, MD

Daniel Knauss, PsyD, ABPP

Megan Kolano, PsyD, ABPP

Terence Meyerhoefer, MD

David Mintz, MD

Margaret Parish, PhD, ABPP

Jeremy Ridenour, PsyD, ABPP

Nina Rose, PhD

John Rucker, PsyD

Hannah Schmitt, PsyD

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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