Austen Riggs Center

Austen Riggs Center is a psychiatric treatment, research, and education institution based in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Its roots date to 1913, when physician Austen Fox Riggs established the Stockbridge Institute for the Study and Treatment of the Psychoneuroses. The institution was incorporated in 1919 as the Austen Fox Riggs Foundation and later became known as the Austen Riggs Center. Riggs developed a residential model that combined intensive psychological work with a structured daily life. Patients were expected to participate in purposeful activity, recreation, rest, and physical exercise rather than being defined solely by a passive hospital role. The early program reflected ideas associated with the mental hygiene movement and with Riggs's belief that recovery involved both self-understanding and adaptation to practical realities. Occupational activities included weaving, carpentry, painting, gardening, games, and other forms of structured recreation. The center became especially influential after Robert P. Knight joined as medical director in 1947. Knight, formerly associated with the Menninger Foundation, emphasized intensive psychotherapy, rehabilitation, and a balance of structure and freedom for patients with severe but not necessarily psychotic disorders. Under his leadership, Riggs developed a therapeutic-community model in which patients and staff participated in discussions about the institution's philosophy and procedures. The center also attracted a notable group of psychoanalysts, psychologists, and researchers, including David Rapaport, Roy Schafer, Merton Gill, Margaret Brenman-Gibson, and Erik Erikson. Joan Erikson expanded the institution's activities program to include theater, dance, visual arts, music, sculpture, woodwork, and gardening, while also establishing a Montessori kindergarten in which patients could participate as apprentices. Subsequent leaders maintained the institution's emphasis on long-term therapeutic relationships. Otto Allen Will, Jr. focused on the psychotherapy of psychotic patients and the role of attachment and vulnerability. Daniel P. Schwartz led the center from 1978 to 1991 during a period when managed care and biologically oriented psychiatry were putting pressure on extended psychotherapy programs. Edward R. Shapiro, who became medical director and chief executive officer in 1991, expanded family involvement, enlarged the social-work function, increased residential capacity, and developed step-down options. He also positioned Riggs as a specialist resource for people whose prior treatments had not produced adequate improvement. The center's current clinical identity is built around an open, voluntary, residential program for adults with serious mental illnesses, especially individuals for whom repeated outpatient or shorter-term interventions have been unsuccessful. Treatment generally combines several weekly sessions of intensive psychodynamic psychotherapy with medication management, therapeutic-community participation, family work, and practical or creative activities. Riggs describes its medication approach in relational and psychodynamic terms, considering how therapeutic relationships may affect medication use and effectiveness. The minimum stay is six weeks, while the median stay has historically been approximately six months, although duration varies by patient. Education and research are organized in part through the Erikson Institute for Education and Research, founded in 1994 in honor of Erik Erikson. The institute supports clinical research, conferences, lectures, visiting scholars, fellowships, community programs, and the Austen Fox Riggs Library. It also operated the Erikson Institute Prize for Excellence in Mental Health Media from 2010 through 2023. In 2019, the center marked the centennial of its founding through historical exhibitions, a partnership with the Norman Rockwell Museum, and an international conference addressing the mental-health crisis in the United States. Austen Riggs remains an independent specialist institution whose model emphasizes depth, continuity, patient participation, and the integration of clinical care with education and scholarship.

Austen Fox Riggs, a New York City internist who retired to Stockbridge while ill with tuberculosis, founded the institution in 1913 as the Stockbridge Institute for the Study and Treatment of the Psychoneuroses. His approach combined talk-based psychological treatment with a carefully organized daily routine involving work, leisure, rest, recreation, and physical activity. The model was influenced by the mental hygiene movement and by Riggs's observations of regimen-based care practiced by physician John George Gehring in Bethel, Maine. The organization was incorporated in 1919 as the Austen Fox Riggs Foundation. By 1924 it had approximately 100 patients, generally treated for four to six weeks, with physicians responsible for relatively small caseloads. Patients participated in occupational activities such as weaving, carpentry, painting, and other handicrafts. Riggs opposed reducing emotional distress to a single cause and argued that patients needed both self-knowledge and practical adaptation. His writings included Play: Recreation in a Balanced Life, Intelligent Living, and Just Nerves. A major institutional transition occurred in 1947, when Robert P. Knight became medical director after serving at the Menninger Foundation. Knight emphasized talk therapy and rehabilitation and did not adopt several physically intensive psychiatric interventions that were common elsewhere at the time. He also developed a therapeutic-community philosophy in which patients and staff jointly considered the principles and procedures governing care. The center subsequently attracted David Rapaport, Roy Schafer, Merton Gill, Margaret Brenman-Gibson, and other influential figures in clinical psychology and psychoanalysis. Erik Erikson joined the staff in 1951. His work at Riggs contributed to his continuing thinking about identity, development, psychological crisis, and the possibilities for growth within difficult life transitions. Joan Erikson directed and broadened the Activities Program, adding theater, dance, painting, sculpture, woodwork, gardening, and music. She also established a Montessori kindergarten for local children, with opportunities for patients to serve as apprentices. These programs reinforced the institution's view that meaningful activity could counteract the constricting identity associated with being a psychiatric patient. After Knight's death, Otto Allen Will Jr. became director in 1967. Will was known for extended psychotherapeutic work with psychotic patients and for studying how severe disturbances might change through long-term therapeutic relationships. He retired as medical director in 1978 but remained involved with the institution's board. Daniel P. Schwartz directed the center from 1978 to 1991, a period marked by the rise of managed care, shorter hospital stays, and biological psychiatry. During 1985–1988, Christopher Bollas served as director of education. Edward R. Shapiro became medical director and CEO in 1991. He strengthened family involvement in treatment, expanded social-work staffing, increased residential capacity, and introduced more economical step-down arrangements. The center increasingly presented itself as a resource for people who had not improved through repeated outpatient or conventional hospital treatment. Shapiro retired in 2011. Donald Rosen took over in July 2011 and left in March 2013. James L. Sacksteder, who had previously directed patient care and had spent decades at Riggs, then served as medical director and CEO until retiring in June 2015. Andrew J. Gerber became CEO and medical director in July 2015. His initiatives included work involving human development, suicide research, and education. Eric Plakun, a psychiatrist with more than four decades of experience at the center, assumed the same leadership role in November 2018. The center marked its centennial in 2019 with a partnership involving the Norman Rockwell Museum, a historical exhibition addressing the institution and the broader history of mental-health care in America, and an international conference about the mental-health crisis in the United States. Its contemporary clinical program remains centered on open, voluntary residential treatment, intensive psychodynamic psychotherapy, medication management, family participation, and therapeutic-community life. The program is designed primarily for adults with serious mental illnesses whose prior treatments have been inadequate. A minimum stay of six weeks and a historically reported median stay of about six months distinguish it from short-term psychiatric hospitalization. The Erikson Institute for Education and Research, established in 1994, extends the center's educational and scholarly mission. It hosts lectures, conferences, scholars in residence, clinical research, community events, and a four-year fellowship in psychoanalytic psychotherapy. The institute also administers the Austen Fox Riggs Library, reported as holding approximately 18,000 items, and previously awarded a prize recognizing accessible and sophisticated mental-health media. Together, the clinical center and Erikson Institute preserve a model that links residential psychiatric care with psychoanalytic inquiry, patient activity, family systems, education, and public discussion.

• 2019

  Centennial programs held

  [1]Austen Riggs Centeren.wikipedia.org

  The center presented historical and public-education programs and convened an international conference during its centennial year.

• 2018

  Eric Plakun becomes medical director and CEO

  [1]Austen Riggs Centeren.wikipedia.org

  Plakun, a longtime Riggs psychiatrist, was appointed in November 2018.

• 2015

  Andrew J. Gerber becomes medical director and CEO

  [1]Austen Riggs Centeren.wikipedia.org

  Gerber took leadership in July 2015 and initiated work in human development, suicide research, and education.

• 2013

  James L. Sacksteder assumes leadership

  [1]Austen Riggs Centeren.wikipedia.org

  Sacksteder became medical director and CEO after Rosen's departure.

• 2011

  Donald Rosen becomes medical director and CEO

  [1]Austen Riggs Centeren.wikipedia.org

  Rosen was appointed to lead the center in July 2011.

• 1994

  Erikson Institute founded

  [1]Austen Riggs Centeren.wikipedia.org

  The Erikson Institute for Education and Research was established to support research, education, fellowships, conferences, and community engagement.

• 1991

  Edward R. Shapiro becomes medical director and CEO

  [1]Austen Riggs Centeren.wikipedia.org

  Shapiro expanded family work, social-work staffing, residential capacity, and step-down treatment options.

• 1967

  Otto Allen Will Jr. becomes director

  [1]Austen Riggs Centeren.wikipedia.org

  Will began a period of leadership focused on long-term psychotherapy for severely disturbed and psychotic patients.

• 1951

  Erik Erikson joins the staff

  [1]Austen Riggs Centeren.wikipedia.org

  Erikson joined a group of prominent psychoanalytic and clinical researchers working at Riggs.

• 1947

  Robert P. Knight becomes medical director

  [1]Austen Riggs Centeren.wikipedia.org

  Knight brought a therapeutic-community and intensive psychotherapy orientation to the center.

• 1919

  Incorporated as the Austen Fox Riggs Foundation

  [1]Austen Riggs Centeren.wikipedia.org

  The institution was formally incorporated under the Austen Fox Riggs Foundation name.

• 1913

  Institution founded

  [1]Austen Riggs Centeren.wikipedia.org

  Austen Fox Riggs opened the Stockbridge Institute for the Study and Treatment of the Psychoneuroses in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.

A specialist, nonprofit psychiatric center positioned around intensive psychodynamic psychotherapy, long-term residential care, therapeutic-community participation, and treatment for patients who have not benefited sufficiently from conventional outpatient or short-term hospital care.

• Clinical service · 1913

  Residential psychiatric treatment

  The center's principal clinical offering is an open and voluntary residential program for adults with serious mental illnesses, particularly people whose symptoms or functional difficulties have persisted despite previous outpatient or hospital treatment. Residential care combines individual psychotherapy, medication management, family involvement, therapeutic-community participation, and structured daily activities. The model is designed to provide continuity and depth rather than the short stays typical of acute psychiatric hospitalization.

• Clinical service

  Intensive psychodynamic psychotherapy

  Treatment is organized around intensive psychodynamic psychotherapy, historically delivered four times per week by a psychiatrist or clinical psychologist. The approach examines patterns of emotion, identity, relationships, defenses, and adaptation while connecting therapy to the patient's broader life in the residential community. Medication may be used for most patients, but prescribing is considered alongside the therapeutic relationship and the patient's psychological experience of treatment.

• Clinical service

  Step-down treatment

  Step-down options provide a less intensive transition for patients moving out of the main residential setting. These programs were developed to broaden access to the center's therapeutic model and to support continuity as patients resume more independent living, treatment, education, or work.

• Education and research · 1994

  Erikson Institute for Education and Research

  Founded in 1994, the Erikson Institute supports clinical research, lectures, conferences, scholars in residence, community events, organizational partnerships, and a four-year fellowship in psychoanalytic psychotherapy. It also manages the Austen Fox Riggs Library and has supported public-facing work on mental health, including the Erikson Institute Prize for Excellence in Mental Health Media.

• Therapeutic and community program

  Activities Program

  The Activities Program uses creative, practical, and communal work as part of the therapeutic environment. Its historical scope has included theater, dance, painting, sculpture, woodwork, gardening, music, and other activities. Joan Erikson significantly expanded the program, which was intended to help patients develop a broader identity and experience purposeful participation beyond the conventional hospital role.

• 2019Centennial celebration

  United States

  Austen Riggs marked 100 years of institutional history through exhibitions about its own development and the history of mental-health care in America, a partnership with the Norman Rockwell Museum concerning Rockwell and Erik Erikson, and an international conference on the mental-health crisis.

  Outcome. The program increased public engagement with the center's historical legacy and connected its clinical identity to broader debates about psychiatric care.

  Source
• 2010Erikson Institute Prize for Excellence in Mental Health Media

  United States · International

  The Erikson Institute operated a prize recognizing writers, journalists, artists, and other media professionals whose work presented mental-health issues with sophistication and accessibility.

  Outcome. The prize continued through 2023 and helped extend the institute's educational mission beyond clinical and academic audiences.

  Source

• 2019

  Public history and mental-health conference programOther

  Background

  The institution's centennial provided an opportunity to connect its historical work with public discussions about psychiatric treatment in America.

  Action taken

  Riggs mounted historical exhibitions, partnered with the Norman Rockwell Museum, and convened an international conference on the mental-health crisis.

  Aftermath

  The activities reinforced the center's combined clinical, educational, historical, and community-engagement mission.

  Source

• 2015

  Development of human-development and suicide-research initiativesStrategy

  Background

  Andrew J. Gerber brought experience in psychiatric research, psychoanalytic education, and neuroimaging to the center's leadership.

  Action taken

  During his tenure, Riggs established initiatives related to human development, suicide research, and education.

  Aftermath

  The initiatives broadened the institution's research and educational profile alongside its residential clinical work.

  Source

• 1991

  Expansion toward family-inclusive and treatment-resistant careStrategy

  Background

  Managed care and shorter psychiatric admissions were reshaping the American mental-health system, while many patients with severe illness were not improving through standard outpatient treatment.

  Action taken

  Edward R. Shapiro expanded family participation, increased social-work staffing, enlarged residential capacity, and added more cost-effective step-down options.

  Aftermath

  Riggs more explicitly positioned itself as a specialist resource for people whose previous treatments had been unsuccessful.

  Source

• 1947

  Adoption of a therapeutic-community orientationStrategy

  Background

  Robert P. Knight assumed medical leadership at a time when psychiatric hospitals commonly used highly restrictive or physically intensive interventions.

  Action taken

  Knight emphasized talk therapy, rehabilitation, patient participation, and a balance between structure and freedom. Patients and staff were brought together to discuss the institution's philosophy and procedures.

  Aftermath

  The approach became a defining element of the center's identity and supported its later reputation for intensive psychotherapy and open residential care.

  Source

1. 1Austen Riggs Centeren.wikipedia.org
2. 2Austen Riggs Center official websiteaustenriggs.org