Harold Grinspoon Underwrites Access to Austen Riggs Center Online Treatment

In a move to provide in-depth mental health care to emerging adults living in Massachusetts, philanthropist Harold Grinspoon has gifted $250,000 to the Austen Riggs Center in Stockbridge, MA to support the Riggs Online Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP). The funding, which Riggs is matching, will provide $500,000 for up to 13 weeks of treatment to 16 individuals over the course of the coming year.

The Online IOP serves individuals residing in Massachusetts between the ages of 18 and 30 and features nine hours of group meetings and two hours of individual psychotherapy with a doctoral-level clinician each week. In addition, it offers medication management, family therapy, and coordination with other mental health resources, all of which are integrated in three times a week multidisciplinary team meetings. Without Grinspoon’s matching gift, Riggs’ Online IOP costs approximately $2,400 per week per patient. Nearly all those seeking treatment lack private resources to support access to the program and approximately 15% do not have applicable insurance coverage. (The Online IOP is in-network with Wellpoint and works with other providers on an out-of-network basis.)

The establishment of the Harold Grinspoon IOP Patient Aid Fund seeks to broaden access to the Online IOP by supporting prospective patients who lack either enough private funding or sufficient insurance coverage to pay for the program.

“I have a deep appreciation for the importance of access to mental health care, in particular psychoanalytically oriented treatment,” said Grinspoon. “In making this gift, my goal is to ensure that everyone in our community who would benefit from this treatment has access to the world-class mental health professionals at Austen Riggs.”

Grinspoon is the founder of Aspen Square Management, one of the top 50 privately held national real estate firms. He is a signatory to the Giving Pledge, a movement of philanthropists who commit to give the majority of their wealth to charitable causes. Additionally, he has created public and private foundations that bear his name and support a wide range of charitable initiatives nationally as well as in Western Massachusetts.

In addition to this support for Austen Riggs’ Online IOP program, Grinspoon has established the Harold Grinspoon Endowed Chair of Psychiatry at the Baystate Health Foundation. He is also an accomplished artist, with works on display in numerous public and private venues, including an outdoor sculpture at Riggs’ “Corner House” building in the heart of Stockbridge.

Riggs launched the Online IOP in 2021 as an outcome of the Center’s successful adaptation during the pandemic of video technologies for telehealth purposes. At the core of the treatment is the psychodynamic team approach, which is patterned on the Center’s internationally renowned residential treatment program. This approach integrates data across treatment and life contexts to better understand each patient’s emotional experience, relationship patterns, social positioning, and conflicting desires. This method can help patients become more self-aware, confident in their abilities, and capable of harnessing emotions and relationships in the service of growth and lasting change.

“We’re committed to bringing Riggs’ treatment to a socially and economically diverse patient population,” said Online IOP Director Spencer Biel, PsyD. “Since we launched, our Online IOP has treated over 100 patients, 42% of whom identify as BIPOC and gender diverse. 62% of the college students we’ve treated are receiving financial aid for school, and patients are only responsible for costs associated with their insurance coverage.”

Some 40% of the program’s patients have a history of prior hospitalization and many have been compelled to drop out of college or halt their careers due to their mental health challenges. Patient surveys have charted significant improvements among respondents, including: 95% indicating their behavior has changed for the better; 93% reporting having benefitted from their treatment in the Online IOP; 98% feeling interpersonally connected with their therapists via Zoom; and 97% feeling cared for by their peers. Some 88% of patients who responded to surveys about their health care upon discharge from the Online IOP said they went to a lower level of care after treatment.

The Online IOP is currently accepting applications for admission and support via the Grinspoon fund. To find out more or to apply, call Jessi Nolet, Online IOP Program Coordinator, Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m. (Eastern) at 833.921.5700 or via this webform.

The Austen Riggs Center is a vital therapeutic community, open psychiatric hospital, and institute for education, research, and advocacy in the field of mental health. Located in the Berkshire Hills of Western Massachusetts, Riggs has been serving adults since its founding in 1919. In addition to its residential program, Riggs also offers a fully online course of treatment for college students and other emerging adults in MA via its Online Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP). Riggs’ mission is to promote resilience and self-direction in those with complex psychiatric problems—to help people take charge of their lives when other treatments have not worked. In addition to the clinical mission, the Erikson Institute for Education, Research, and Advocacy of the Austen Riggs Center studies individuals in their social contexts through research, training, and education, and conducts outreach programs in the local community and beyond. For more information, visit www.AustenRiggs.org.

Media Contact:
John Zollinger
Director of Communications
Austen Riggs Center
413.931.5816
john.zollinger@austenriggs.net