Podcasts about Austen Riggs Center

What is our purpose, both individually and collectively? What lies in the balance of who we are now and who we will become?  In Part Two of this episode, the Surgeon General and Shankar Vedantam, host of “Hidden Brain,” go deep into conversation about our individual and national quest for meaning and purpose.  This episode becomes deeply personal as both host and guest reveal their family's hopes for coming to America, and the unimaginable ways in which those dreams were realized. They find themselves asking where else on earth has what America can offer? And how can we remember and reinforce our ideals at moments the noise becomes too great?  (03:23)    How can we encourage young people to dream about the future?  (09:21)    How can we bring freshness and curiosity to our daily lives?  (11:57)    What does it mean to be a tourist in our own lives?  (15:28)    What is the power of having purpose in our lives?  (22:39)    What's the difference between goals and purpose?  (25:39)    How would Dr. Murthy bolster America's sense of purpose?  (28:58)    What is the enormous possibility that the United States offers?  (30:16)    What story of America did Dr. Murthy see in the crowd at his swearing in ceremony?  (32:51)    Who are Shankar Vedantam's Unsung Heroes?    We'd love to hear from you! Send us a note at housecalls@hhs.gov with your feedback & ideas. For more episodes, visit www.surgeongeneral.gov/housecalls.      Shankar Vedantam, Host, “Hidden Brain” Podcast  Instagram: @hiddenbrain   X: @hiddenbrain  Facebook: @hiddenbrain    About Shankar Vedantam  Shankar Vedantam is the host and executive editor of the Hidden Brain podcast and radio show. Shankar and NPR launched the podcast in 2015, and it now receives millions of downloads per week, and is regularly listed as one of the top 20 podcasts in the world. The radio show, which debuted in 2017, is heard on more than 425 public radio stations across the United States.     Vedantam was NPR's social science correspondent between 2011 and 2020, and he spent 10 years as a reporter at The Washington Post. From 2007 to 2009, he was also a columnist, and wrote the Department of Human Behavior column for the Post.     Vedantam and Hidden Brain have been recognized with numerous journalism awards, including the Edward R Murrow Award, and honors from the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, the International Society of Political Psychology, the Society of Professional Journalists, the National Association of Black Journalists, the Austen Riggs Center, the American Psychoanalytic Association, the Webby Awards, the Pennsylvania Associated Press Managing Editors, the South Asian Journalists Association, the Asian American Journalists Association, the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association, the American Public Health Association, the Templeton-Cambridge Fellowship on Science and Religion, and the Rosalynn Carter Mental Health Journalism Fellowship.     In 2009-2010, Vedantam served as a fellow at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University.     Shankar Vedantam speaks internationally about how the “hidden brain” shapes our world and is the author of two non-fiction books: The Hidden Brain: How our Unconscious Minds Elect Presidents, Control Markets, Wage Wars and Save Our Lives, published in 2010, and Useful Delusions: The Power and Paradox of the Self-Deceiving Brain published in 2021, an exploration of deception's role in human success.  

Have you ever had a moment when you've wanted to reach out to someone you haven't seen in awhile, but something stops you, like the worry you'll say the wrong thing?  Or have you had the experience of assuming that someone who disagrees with you must also dislike you?   It turns out, our mind can play tricks on us that make it harder to connect.   Shankar Vedantam, host and creator of the podcast ”Hidden Brain” joins the Surgeon General for a two-part conversation that travels across science and deeper philosophical questions about life.   In this first conversation, Shankar explains the “hidden brain,” the part of the mind that function outside of our awareness, making unconscious decisions and judgments. They ponder the paradox of how social anxieties keep us from connecting, but how acts of connection and kindness have far greater impact and power than most of us realize.     Offering both science and personal stories, Shankar and Dr. Murthy help us work through our fears of connecting. And help us close the gap between our values, like kindness, and our actions.  (04:04)    How does Shankar Vedantam describe the origins of the Hidden Brain podcast?  (06:18)    How can we understand if our hidden brain is helping us?  (08:34)    How does our hidden brain keep us from connecting with other people?  (14:04)    What does it mean to express gratitude to someone else?  (18:39)    How has Dr. Murthy cultivated his sense of kind and warmth?  (24:20)    How can we tell a better story about the nature of our humanity?  (29:36)    How did Shankar Vedantam become a translator of science?  (33:12)    How do listeners respond to the Hidden Brain podcast?  (36:12)    How are ideas for Hidden Brain podcast episodes developed?    We'd love to hear from you! Send us a note at housecalls@hhs.gov with your feedback & ideas. For more episodes, visit www.surgeongeneral.gov/housecalls.      Shankar Vedantam, Host, “Hidden Brain” Podcast  Instagram: @hiddenbrain   X: @hiddenbrain  Facebook: @hiddenbrain    About Shankar Vedantam  Shankar Vedantam is the host and executive editor of the Hidden Brain podcast and radio show. Shankar and NPR launched the podcast in 2015, and it now receives millions of downloads per week, and is regularly listed as one of the top 20 podcasts in the world. The radio show, which debuted in 2017, is heard on more than 425 public radio stations across the United States.     Vedantam was NPR's social science correspondent between 2011 and 2020, and he spent 10 years as a reporter at The Washington Post. From 2007 to 2009, he was also a columnist, and wrote the Department of Human Behavior column for the Post.     Vedantam and Hidden Brain have been recognized with numerous journalism awards, including the Edward R Murrow Award, and honors from the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, the International Society of Political Psychology, the Society of Professional Journalists, the National Association of Black Journalists, the Austen Riggs Center, the American Psychoanalytic Association, the Webby Awards, the Pennsylvania Associated Press Managing Editors, the South Asian Journalists Association, the Asian American Journalists Association, the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association, the American Public Health Association, the Templeton-Cambridge Fellowship on Science and Religion, and the Rosalynn Carter Mental Health Journalism Fellowship.     In 2009-2010, Vedantam served as a fellow at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University.     Shankar Vedantam speaks internationally about how the “hidden brain” shapes our world and is the author of two non-fiction books: The Hidden Brain: How our Unconscious Minds Elect Presidents, Control Markets, Wage Wars and Save Our Lives, published in 2010, and Useful Delusions: The Power and Paradox of the Self-Deceiving Brain published in 2021, an exploration of deception's role in human success.  

To donate to my PayPal (thank you): https://paypal.me/danieru22?country.x=US&locale.x=en_US VIDEO NOTES In this interview, I speak with Jane Tillman, PhD, ABPP, about her work at the Austen Riggs Center. The Austen Riggs Center is an internationally renowned therapeutic community, open psychiatric hospital, and center for clinical education and research—a place that promotes personal resilience and self-direction in adults (18+) with complex psychiatric problems. I made a comment about Jung stopping therapy for anyone who joined a religious community. It would be more accurate to say: For some individuals, the structure of a church or religious community acts as a psychic container—a supportive framework for their inner experiences. If a patient found solace and growth within a religious context, Jung was content to conclude therapy. Returning to or joining a religious community could signify progress on their individuation journey. But Jung soon realized that for many, if not most, of his patients, this return to religion was no longer psychologically or spiritually possible, and that he would therefore need instead to aid them in creating a more meaningful life for themselves outside and beyond conventional religious systems. Links Austen Riggs Center Website: https://www.austenriggs.org/Note: Information contained in this video is for educational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for treatment or consultation with a mental health professional or business consultant.

As an investigator as a member of the State Police, Brian Berkel saw firsthand the devastation of suicide in our community. Today, he's a part of a concerted effort to continue to remove the stigma that remains on this sensitive issue, open up the conversation, and save lives. Today, Brian is the president of the board of trustees for the Berkshire Coalition for Suicide Prevention. Our conversation comes as the coalition has teamed up with the Berkshire International Film Festival and the Austen Riggs Center on this weekend's "Shine the Light" event with a screening and conversation about youth mental illness and suicide prevention at the Mawaiwe Performing Arts Center. In my conversation with Brian, we cover a great deal of ground on particular warning signs, risk factors and opening the conversation to help someone (or yourself) considering suicide, as well as: finding a space for the conversation, not putting off the conversation, removing the means for suicide, emotional and other changes as a red flag, veterans disproportionately impacted, Officer Doug Kingsley's walk across Massachusetts to raise suicide awareness, Kevin Hines and regretting a suicide attempt, what not to say to someone who may be at risk, and more. I hope you'll enjoy my conversation with Brian Berkel. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/john-krol/support

This week we wrap up our More than a Maker series with an interview with Michael McCarthy. He is a potter and instructor at the Austen Riggs Center, a residential psychiatric hospital and treatment center located in Stockbridge, MA. In our interview we talk about art making within the mental health treatment paradigm, how decreasing expectation can lead to creative breakthroughs with students, and his path to being a potter. We also discuss building community in Western MA and creating colorful glazes in a wood kiln. For more information visit www.mccarthypottery.com.   More than a Maker is made possible by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Montana, proud sponsors of wellness for makers. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Montana is focused on building healthier communities through strategic investments to improve population health, increase access to care, and to make healthcare more affordable for all. For more information please visit www.bcbsmt.com.

Jennifer Swantkowski has her masters in social work from the University of Houston, a post-graduate fellowship in End of Life Care, and a PhD in Clinical Social Work from Smith College in Northampton, MA.  She has worked as a family therapist at the Austen Riggs Center in Stockbridge, MA and was an adjunct professor at Boston College.  She then returned to Houston, Texas  where she served as an individual and family therapist at. The Menninger Clinic, was an instructor for individuals conducting their post-graduate Fellowships at Menninger and was also an adjunct professor at the University of Houston. For the last ten years, Jennifer has been in private practice working with adults providing individual and couples counseling.  In her practice, she focused mainly on professionals dealing with issues such as anxiety, addiction and relationship struggles;  as well as young adults who were failing to launch in their lives.  Unfortunately, due to a neuro-toxic reaction to an antibiotic and subsequent struggle to come off  the benzodiazepine prescribed for that injury, Jennifer stepped away from her clinical practice in 2020.  During this time away, she has focused on healing as well as heavily researching medication injury and benzodiazepine withdrawal.  She has written a book called The Waiting Room: My Journey of Recovery from Medication Injury and Benzodiazepine Withdrawal that will be out in early July of this summer.  She is currently working on a second book and creating YouTube videos on her channel ( jenniferswanphd) where she  discusses various issues related to benzodiazepine withdrawal as well as a separate series called Therapy from the Sidelines where she discusses a wide array of psychological topics.   She is passionate about being a part of advocacy and awareness efforts and serves as a member of the Medical Advisory Board for the Benzodiazepine Information Coalition. 

Finding a therapist who you trust and who can offer you proper support can be a complicated process for many people. One of the reasons for this is the confusing and sometimes even misleading terms used in the field of mental health.   Joining me today is research psychologist and medical staff member at the Austen Riggs Center, Dr. Katie C. Lewis. We'll discuss the differences and similarities between cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and psychodynamic therapy, how to determine which treatment modality is right for your unique family, and arm you with the knowledge you need for finding a therapist that will best support your goals and honor your parenting values, whether your seeking treatment for yourself or your child.     Want to get more from Dr. Sarah Bren?  ✨ Follow Dr. Sarah on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drsarahbren/ ✨ Subscribe to the weekly newsletter: https://drsarahbren.com/join-newsletter ✨ And check out her website for more free parenting resources: https://drsarahbren.com/resources  

In today's special suicide prevention episode we are joined by two experts: Doctor Jane Tillman of the Austen Riggs Center in Stockbridge, Massachusetts and Doctor Joseph Hunter of the Albany Stratton Veterans Affairs Medical Center. WAMC's Ray Graf hosts.

Rendering Unconscious Podcast welcomes psychiatrist, psychoanalyst and professor Dr. Vamik Volkan to discuss his brand new book Large-Group Psychology: Racism, Societal Divisions, Narcissistic Leaders and Who We Are Now (Phoenix Publishing House, 2020): https://www.karnacbooks.com/product/large-group-psychology-racism-societal-divisions-narcissistic-leaders-and-who-we-are-now/94849/?MATCH=1 Vamik D. Volkan is an Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Virginia, an Emeritus Training and Supervising Analyst at the Washington Psychoanalytic Institute, and the Senior Erik Erikson Scholar at the Austen Riggs Center in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. He is the president of the International Dialogue Initiative and a former president of the International Society of Political Psychology, the Virginia Psychoanalytic Society, and the American College of Psychoanalysts. He received the Sigmund Freud Award given by the city of Vienna in collaboration with the World Council of Psychotherapy, and in 2015 received the Sigourney Award, honouring achievements for the advancement of psychoanalysis. International Society for Political Psychology: https://www.ispp.org International Dialogue Initiative: https://www.internationaldialogueinitiative.com/our-team/vamik-d-volkan/ The film Vamik's Room by Molly Castelloe: https://www.vamiksroom.org Film Psychology of Migration by Ferhat Atik: https://www.ferhatatik.com/migration Rendering Unconscious Podcast is hosted by psychoanalyst Dr. Vanessa Sinclair, who interviews psychoanalysts, psychologists, scholars, creative arts therapists, writers, poets, philosophers, artists and other creatives & intellectuals about their process, world events, the current state of mental health care, politics, culture, the arts & more. www.renderingunconscious.org Rendering Unconscious is also a book! Rendering Unconscious: Psychoanalytic Perspectives, Politics & Poetry (2019) is available from Trapart Books: store.trapart.net/details/00000 You can support the podcast at our Patreon: www.patreon.com/vanessa23carl Rendering Unconscious podcast can be found at Spotify, iTunes, Podbean, YouTube and your other favorite podcast platforms. Visit www.renderingunconscious.org/about/ for links. Vanessa Sinclair, Psy.D. is a psychoanalyst based Stockholm, who sees clients internationally, specializing in offering quality psychoanalytic treatment remotely and online. This may be of interest for freelancers, students, people of varying abilities and those who live rurally and may not otherwise have access to psychoanalytic treatment, those who work from home, have small children, or may be homebound. This is also a useful framework for people with active lifestyles – entrepreneurs, creatives, business people, actors, ex-pats - offering continuity of care for people on the go. www.drvanessasinclair.net The track at the end of the episode is "Belle de Jour" by Vanessa Sinclair and Carl Abrahamsson from the forthcoming album dedicated to Lady Jaye Breyer P-Orridge: https://anewhai.bandcamp.com/track/venessa-sinclair-belle-de-jour?fbclid=IwAR2RTctCMjy9CZxJQyOfs_sPQDcDDsGnoWQyMXQST1VD4A2OML387O_wL5M Portrait of Dr. Vamik Volkan https://www.vamiksroom.org/about-vamik-volkan

“Interpreting experience in role, is in relation to the mission of the organization, is an extraordinarily useful way of beginning to develop a shared understanding of  organizational dynamics.”   Description: Steven Rolfe welcomes Dr. Edward Shapiro, who is a training and supervising analyst at the Berkshire Psychoanalytic Institute. He is a former Medical Director and CEO of the Austen Riggs Center in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. He is a Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at Yale University School of Medicine and has been an organizational consultant for over 35 years. Dr. Shapiro has consulted with hospitals, mental health clinics, law firms and family businesses focusing on organizational transition, mergers, organizational structure and dilemmas of authority, management and delegation. He has coached executives in health care, law , education and business. He is the author of Finding a Place to Stand: Developing Self Reflecting Institutions, Leaders and Citizens, and co-author of Lost in Familiar Places: Creating New Connections Between the Individual and Society. Dr. Shapiro received the Felix and Helene Deutsch Scientific Award from the Boston Psychoanalytic Society, the Research Prize from the Society for Family Therapy and Research, and the Philip Isenberg Teaching Award from McLean Hospital.   Key takeaways: [4:05] What stimulated Dr. Shapiro to write a book on citizenship? [5:06] Interpreting society as an enormous challenge. [6:14] Unconscious forces drive groups and organizations. [8:38] Dr. Shapiro talks about his training as an analyst and consultant. [12:03] Projective identification as crucial in the understanding of families and groups. [14:05] Running the program at McLean Hospital. [15:44] Austen Riggs. [20:33] Transition from McLean to Austen Riggs. [21:25] Organizations and society are interdependent. [23:15] Working with limited resources . [24:25] Patients as citizens of the Riggs community. [25:48] The political aspect. [27:10] Telling stories to make ideas accessible to people. [32:50] Transference and the role of the analyst. [34:07] Dr. Shapiro talks about his most recent book.   Mentioned in this episode: IPA Off the Couch www.ipaoffthecouch.org   Recommended Readings:   Shapiro, ER. (2020) Finding a Place to Stand: Developing Self-Reflective Institutions, Leaders and Citizens. London: Phoenix.   Shapiro ER. (2012) Management versus interpretation: teaching residents to listen. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 2012, 200 (3): 204-207.   Shapiro ER. (2011) Psychoanalytic institutions and treatment resistance: Commentary on Kafka: Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 2011, 51: 71-79.   Shapiro E.R. editor (1997). The Inner World in the Outer World: Psychoanalytic Perspectives. New Haven: Yale University Press.   Shapiro, E.R. and Carr, A.W. (1991) Lost in Familiar Places: Creating New connections between the Individual and Society. New Haven:Yale University Press.

Learn what actually works in therapy. It’s hard to verbalize the problem with “evidence-based” models of care, but renowned psychoanalyst and psychologist Nancy McWilliams does just that. She further describes what happens in quality depth-oriented therapies such as psychoanalytically-informed, attachment-oriented therapy, and integrates the neurobiological aspect that Freud started that has now been confirmed. Who is Nancy McWilliams? Nancy McWilliams, PhD, ABPP, is Visiting Professor in the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, and has a private practice in Flemington, New Jersey. She is on the editorial board of Psychoanalytic Psychology and has authored three classic books on psychotherapy, including the award-winning Psychoanalytic Diagnosis, Second Edition: Understanding Personality Structure in the Clinical Process. Dr. McWilliams is an Honorary Member of the American Psychoanalytic Association and a former Erikson Scholar at the Austen Riggs Center in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. She is a recipient of the Leadership and Scholarship Awards from Division 39 (Psychoanalysis) of the American Psychological Association (APA) and the Hans H. Strupp Award from the Appalachian Psychoanalytic Society, and delivered the Dr. Rosalee G. Weiss Lecture for Outstanding Leaders in Psychology for APA Division 42 (Psychologists in Independent Practice). She has demonstrated psychodynamic psychotherapy in three APA educational videos and has spoken at the commencement ceremonies of the Yale University School of Medicine and the Smith College School for Social Work. Show Notes – Psychoanalytic Perspectives on Therapy with Nancy McWilliams Psychoanalytic Perspective, Trauma & Attachment Based Treatment • Challenges – academic and scientific • Short term focused • Technique driven • However, deprives individuals of the time needed to establish secure attachment to therapist, develop motivation to change, feel root feelings, etc. • Psychoananalytic Perspective • Humanistic-evidence based relationships • Proving and disproving Freud  Trauma treatment history • Long term Therapy Benefits • Devoted Therapist Negative Transference “Difficult patients” typically are the ones that evoke parts of ourselves that we don’t like. Our own ugliness, our own badness, all of that. And again, that goes back to long-term treatment, but also long-term treatment of ourselves, you know, as doing our own work and really, you know, a lifelong process. Research on non-verbal communications and what works in therapy. Learning the defenses and what lies underneath • Narcissism/soft toss • Borderline • what would you advise for people to get the most out of their therapy or any close relationship that they’re in? Do you have thoughts about that?   If you enjoy this episode you may also enjoy these: TU105: Narcissism, What is Going On Under the Defense w Sue Marriott & Ann Kelley TU90: Avoidance and the Difficulty Opening Up with Guest Robert T. Muller TU41: The Dark Side Of Therapy: Recognizing When The Therapeutic Relationship Goes Bad   Resources: Psychoanalytic Diagnosis by Nancy McWilliams (textbook for therapists and students) To Know and to Care – A_Review of Psychoanalysis by Nancy McWilliams A psychodynamic formulation masterclass by Nancy McWilliams In Conversation Wih Dr Nancy McWilliam The Therapeutic Presence In Psychoanalys by Nancy McWilliams Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, HER Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed – Lori Gottlieb (Sue read this at Dr. McWilliams suggestion and found it hilarious, poignant and much like therapy occurs in real life. Highly recommended.)   Who doesn’t love special offers? Our course is now available for a deeply discounted early release price! While this course is aimed toward clinicians (CE’s available!), all who are highly interested in deepening the security in ...

Learn what actually works in therapy. It’s hard to verbalize the problem with “evidence-based” models of care, but renowned psychoanalyst and psychologist Nancy McWilliams does just that. She further describes what happens in quality depth-oriented therapies such as psychoanalytically-informed, attachment-oriented therapy, and integrates the neurobiological aspect that Freud started that has now been confirmed. Who is Nancy McWilliams?Nancy McWilliams, PhD, ABPP, is Visiting Professor in the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, and has a private practice in Flemington, New Jersey. She is on the editorial board of Psychoanalytic Psychology and has authored three classic books on psychotherapy, including the award-winning  (https://www.guilford.com/books/Psychoanalytic-Diagnosis/Nancy-McWilliams/9781609184940) . Dr. McWilliams is an Honorary Member of the American Psychoanalytic Association and a former Erikson Scholar at the Austen Riggs Center in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. She is a recipient of the Leadership and Scholarship Awards from Division 39 (Psychoanalysis) of the American Psychological Association (APA) and the Hans H. Strupp Award from the Appalachian Psychoanalytic Society, and delivered the Dr. Rosalee G. Weiss Lecture for Outstanding Leaders in Psychology for APA Division 42 (Psychologists in Independent Practice). She has demonstrated psychodynamic psychotherapy in three APA educational videos and has spoken at the commencement ceremonies of the Yale University School of Medicine and the Smith College School for Social Work. Show Notes – Psychoanalytic Perspectives on Therapy with Nancy McWilliamsPsychoanalytic Perspective, Trauma & Attachment Based Treatment• Challenges – academic and scientific • Short term focused • Technique driven • However, deprives individuals of the time needed to establish secure attachment to therapist, develop motivation to change, feel root feelings, etc. • Psychoananalytic Perspective • Humanistic-evidence based relationships • Proving and disproving Freud  Trauma treatment history• Long term Therapy Benefits • Devoted Therapist Negative Transference“Difficult patients” typically are the ones that evoke parts of ourselves that we don’t like. Our own ugliness, our own badness, all of that. And again, that goes back to long-term treatment, but also long-term treatment of ourselves, you know, as doing our own work and really, you know, a lifelong process. Research on non-verbal communications and what works in therapy. Learning the defenses and what lies underneath• Narcissism/soft toss • Borderline • what would you advise for people to get the most out of their therapy or any close relationship that they’re in? Do you have thoughts about that?   If you enjoy this episode you may also enjoy these: TU105: Narcissism, What is Going On Under the Defense w Sue Marriott & Ann Kelley (https://www.therapistuncensored.com/tu104-narcissism-what-is-going-on-under-the-defense/) TU90: Avoidance and the Difficulty Opening Up with Guest Robert T. Muller (https://www.therapistuncensored.com/tu90_avoidance_robert_muller/) TU41: The Dark Side Of Therapy: Recognizing When The Therapeutic Relationship Goes Bad (https://www.therapistuncensored.com/tu-41/)   Resources: Psychoanalytic Diagnosis (https://amzn.to/2X4X2NT) by Nancy McWilliams (textbook for therapists and students) To Know and to Care – A_Review of Psychoanalysis by Nancy McWilliams (https://www.therapistuncensored.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/To_Know_and_to_Care_A_Review_of_Psychoan.pdf) Psychoanalytic Diagnosis – Nancy McWilliams (https://www.therapistuncensored.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Psychoanalytic_Diagnosis_-_Nancy_McWilli.pdf) A psychodynamic formulation masterclass by Nancy McWilliams... Support this podcast

A conversation with Dr. Eric Plakun. Dr. Plakun, the medical director and CEO of Austen Riggs Center in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Austen Riggs just celebrated its 100th year! Austen Riggs is a therapeutic community, open psychiatric hospital, and center for education and research, promoting resilience and self-direction in adults with complex psychiatric problems. Dr. Plakun graduated from Hofstra University and received an MD from the Columbia College of Physicians & Surgeons and completed his psychiatry residency at Dartmouth and a Fellowship in Psychoanalytic Studies at Austen Riggs. Dr. Plakun is a board-certified psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, researcher, and forensic psychiatrist. He is the editor and author of close to fifty articles and book chapters on the diagnosis, treatment, longitudinal course, and outcome of patients with borderline personality disorder and treatment-resistant disorders. He is a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and on their Board of Directors as well. He is the founding leader of the APA’s Psychotherapy Caucus. In 2003, Eric was selected by the Massachusetts Psychiatric Society as their “Outstanding Psychiatrist in Clinical Psychiatry.” Most recently he has also offered compelling testimony in a major class-action suit that may finally begin forcing medical insurance companies to expand their coverage of mental health treatments. During this hour-long conversation, Virgil speaks with Eric about how he came to this work and will hear his thoughts on effective mental health treatment, the role of environmentally impacted genes on one’s mental health, and where he sees the field of mental health treatment headed. Three main talking points: Point one: Effective treatment must be more than just crisis management and stabilization. A quick fix is not enough to help people truly recover from mental illness. We will review changes in the science, law and social policy with a focus on striving to achieve parity for health care for those suffering from mental illness. Point two: Environmentally impacted genetics and integrative mental health care. We are moving more toward bio/psycho/social psychiatry which addresses the impact on our genes of environmental factors, especially adverse childhood experiences. Psychotherapy in particular addresses the sense of loss that someone may experience from trauma and other negative social determinants. Point three: Organizational leadership. Austen Riggs is 100 and moving more strongly than ever into a role of leadership, such as is found in an upcoming conference with an array of first-class mental health thought leaders. Austen Riggs is leading the way in calling for broad, not reductionist, mental health care as well as in calling for broader economic access by pushing to achieve parity.

Today's guest in Greg Farr, archivist for the Episcopal Church in Connecticut since last October. His office is at The Commons. Greg is not entirely new to ECCT, as he helped transport and set up the archives at The Commons in Meriden from the old Diocesan House in Hartford in 2016.  Before working for ECCT, Greg ran the medical library and archives of the Austen Riggs Center in Stockbridge, MA, a hospital celebratings its centennial this ,year that sponsors one of the largest - and some say finest - psychoanalytic libraries on the east coast. Greg first got into archival work at Monticello, working on the presidential catalogue of Thomas Jefferson. Greg received his Masters in Library & Information Sciences from Drexel University. In the article introducing Greg to ECCT, he said he was looking forward to advocating the history and value of archives and the knowledge maintaining history provides, especially here in Connecticut.  Beyond ECCT, Greg likes to read theology and play guitar. He lives with his wife in Colebrook, which he calls the "icebox of Connecticut," and they have three grown children.  Greg starts out by saying how much he enjoys being in his current position, and how he likes that ECCT's history parallels U.S. history. He talked about what's in our archives, the different types of media, and how much space it takes up. Greg shares his thoughts about how the Anglican Church, later to be The Episcopal Church, contributed, as an organization, to the development of the US. He thinks of the Church as like a quilting point.   Next he shares some of the interesting finds from his work in the ECCT archives, some of which have come through requests from researchers. (Was the sexton of a St. Paul's in New Haven murdered in the 1850s? Was there an African Mission Society in the 1830s and was Frances Scott Key really on its board?)  Some of Greg's work is now to convert our holdings to accommodate digital access, he said, but he still works with paper a lot. In response  to a question from Alli, Greg says that there are many ways that the archives and his role as archivist can assist parishes — from providing founding documents to blueprints. He is also available to visit parishes and assist with keeping records and preservation. He suggests to parishes to keep all minutes, records, etc.   Greg talks about his work with Monticello and how he went from a ticket salesperson to working on President Jefferson’s retirement library. One thing that really stood out to Greg was Jefferson’s copy of the French Encyclopedia, one of the firsts of its kind. After his work with Monticello, he went to grad school in Boston and worked with Elie Wiesel, which shaped his understanding of memory and identity. His love for archives came from a project he worked on at Episcopal Divinity School. 

In this podcast Adam Hoffberg and Dr. Katie Lewis discuss how daily social experiences operate as risk and/or protective factors against suicide. Dr. Lewis is a Research Psychologist at the Austen Riggs Center and a recent AFSP Young Investigator Grant recipient for her research, which utilizes ecological momentary assessment methods to study the social drivers of suicidal ideation in adults contending with complex chronic psychopathology. Adam and Dr. Lewis talk about the importance of studying the daily social experiences of individuals with chronic suicidal ideation, and the challenges (and benefits!) of implementing experience sampling research designs in active clinical settings.

Vamik D. Volkan, a native of Cyprus, was touched by ethnic/political violence at a very personal level when he was still in medical school: a very close friend was shot by terrorists during the Cypriat war. “I didn't have anyone to talk to about it at the time, I was far from home.” Once he completed medical school and his psychoanalytic training, he noticed that he had become preoccupied with theoretical questions of mourning, and he realized he was motivated by his loss to address issues of ethnic violence and peace-making from a psychoanalytic angle. How are generations of families affected by historical trauma and loss? How does political violence and trauma become a chosen or disavowed element of identity across generations? With A Nazi Legacy: Depositing, Transgenerational Transmission, Dissociation, and Remembering Through Action (Karnac 2015), Volkan recounts a fascinating, riveting, theoretically powerful case history he supervises, of the grandson of a high level Nazi perpetrator, instrumental in developing the forced euthanasia of people with disabilities. The grandfather's program was called “T4”, and he was responsible for introducing the technique of killing groups of people with gas, which went on to be used on the large scale in the camps. He was later killed on the Eastern Front. When the grandson, the subject of the case, Victor, is born, his parents are deeply preoccupied with the possibility that Victor may have a disability. Victor is haunted by the memory of a tonsillectomy at three years old, of his struggling and resisting being “gassed” by the pediatrician. As an adult, he presents for therapy with the problem that he has episodes at night of waking in a dissociative state in his room and trying to escape through the window. A complication for the treatment is that Victor's future analyst is the daughter of a Nazi soldier… A Nazi Legacy is challenging, moving, but also useful as a presentation of clinical technique. Volkan strongly advocates for psychoanalysts to be more aware of the effects of social and political violence on the internal world of their patients, but also to be aware of how these events affect analysts themselves, and play out in enactments of disavowal. As Victor begins to work through his family history and the truth of his grandfather's atrocities, he has a pivotal reaction to seeing the film “Twelve Years a Slave”: “he recalled the film dealing with racism and thought he might be like white people in the United States.” Vamik D. Volkan is Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, the Senior Erik Erikson Scholar at the Erikson Institute of Education and Research of the Austen Riggs Center, and an Emeritus Training and Supervising Analyst at the Washington DC Psychoanalytic Institute. Dr. Volkan is also president of the International Dialogue Initiative (IDI), a nonprofit organization that brings together unofficial representatives from various parts of the world, such as Germany, Iran, Israel, Russia, Turkey, UK, U.S.A, and the West Bank to examine world affairs from a psychopolitical angle. The IDI develops a common language between psychoanalysts and those who are diplomats, politicians or from other disciplines. Dr. Volkan is a 2015 Winner of the prestigious Sigourney Award, and has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize three times. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/psychoanalysis

Vamik D. Volkan, a native of Cyprus, was touched by ethnic/political violence at a very personal level when he was still in medical school: a very close friend was shot by terrorists during the Cypriat war. “I didn’t have anyone to talk to about it at the time, I was far from home.” Once he completed medical school and his psychoanalytic training, he noticed that he had become preoccupied with theoretical questions of mourning, and he realized he was motivated by his loss to address issues of ethnic violence and peace-making from a psychoanalytic angle. How are generations of families affected by historical trauma and loss? How does political violence and trauma become a chosen or disavowed element of identity across generations? With A Nazi Legacy: Depositing, Transgenerational Transmission, Dissociation, and Remembering Through Action (Karnac 2015), Volkan recounts a fascinating, riveting, theoretically powerful case history he supervises, of the grandson of a high level Nazi perpetrator, instrumental in developing the forced euthanasia of people with disabilities. The grandfather’s program was called “T4”, and he was responsible for introducing the technique of killing groups of people with gas, which went on to be used on the large scale in the camps. He was later killed on the Eastern Front. When the grandson, the subject of the case, Victor, is born, his parents are deeply preoccupied with the possibility that Victor may have a disability. Victor is haunted by the memory of a tonsillectomy at three years old, of his struggling and resisting being “gassed” by the pediatrician. As an adult, he presents for therapy with the problem that he has episodes at night of waking in a dissociative state in his room and trying to escape through the window. A complication for the treatment is that Victor’s future analyst is the daughter of a Nazi soldier… A Nazi Legacy is challenging, moving, but also useful as a presentation of clinical technique. Volkan strongly advocates for psychoanalysts to be more aware of the effects of social and political violence on the internal world of their patients, but also to be aware of how these events affect analysts themselves, and play out in enactments of disavowal. As Victor begins to work through his family history and the truth of his grandfather’s atrocities, he has a pivotal reaction to seeing the film “Twelve Years a Slave”: “he recalled the film dealing with racism and thought he might be like white people in the United States.” Vamik D. Volkan is Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, the Senior Erik Erikson Scholar at the Erikson Institute of Education and Research of the Austen Riggs Center, and an Emeritus Training and Supervising Analyst at the Washington DC Psychoanalytic Institute. Dr. Volkan is also president of the International Dialogue Initiative (IDI), a nonprofit organization that brings together unofficial representatives from various parts of the world, such as Germany, Iran, Israel, Russia, Turkey, UK, U.S.A, and the West Bank to examine world affairs from a psychopolitical angle. The IDI develops a common language between psychoanalysts and those who are diplomats, politicians or from other disciplines. Dr. Volkan is a 2015 Winner of the prestigious Sigourney Award, and has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize three times. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Josh Shenk - Want to be great? Then don't go at it alone. Throughout history teams of exactly 2 people have made the biggest impact - think Lennon and McCartney, Wozniak and Jobs, Orville and Wilbur Wright...the list goes on and on. But why? This week we crush the myth of the "lone genius" and learn how the best creations of all time came from people who worked in pairs. Josh Shenk, author of Powers of Two: Finding the Essence of Innovation in Creative Pairs, tells us not only why 2 is the magic number, but also how you can find your creative pair and start making history. Josh is a curator, essayist, and author. His magazine pieces include cover stories in Harper’s, Time, and The Atlantic, where his essay "What Makes Us Happy?" was the most read article in the history of that magazine’s website. His work has also appeared in Slate, The New Yorker, and The New York Times. His first book, Lincoln’s Melancholy, was named one of the best books of 2005 byThe New York Times, The Washington Post,and The Atlanta-Journal Constitution.. He is a curator, storyteller and advisor to The Moth; vice-chair emeritus of the board of directors, he currently serves on the general council. He is also a past director of the Rose O'Neill Literary House at Washington College, where he curated programs and festivals and directed a small literary press. Shenk consults to the Erikson Institute for Education and Research at the Austen Riggs Center, where he directs the Erikson Prize for Mental Health Media and Arts in Mind, a conversation series on the creative arts and psychology, co-hosted by the New School in New York City. "Creativity is not about being comfortable. It's about moving from where you are to something bigger.  It's all about the encounter of disparate things." - Josh Shenk Quotes from Josh: What we learn in this episode: What characteristics make two people compatible? Why is tension good for partners creative abilities? How does conversation play a key role in creativity? Why is a pair better than a trio? Resources: Powers of Two: Finding the Essence of Innovation in Creative Pairs www.shenk.net Twitter @joshuawolfshenk -- This episode is brought to you by: 99Designs: Go to 99designs.com/SMART to get a $99 Power Pack of services for FREE today! ting: mobile that makes sense. For $25 off your first device or a $25 credit, use smartpeople.ting.com and save money on your cell phone bill today!