MD from the Columbia Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons

Fellowship in psychoanalytic studies at the Austen Riggs Center

Eric Plakun, MD, is the Senior Consultant to the Erikson Institute for Education, Research, and Advocacy and the former Medical Director/CEO of the Austen Riggs Center (2018-2024). He has a particular interest in mental health advocacy, full implementation of the mental health parity law, access-to-care issues, and reducing health disparities.

Dr. Plakun was the director of admissions for 35 years and has dedicated nearly his entire professional career to Riggs (more than 45 years) and its unique way of looking at and treating mental disorders. Other roles have included treatment team leader, psychotherapy supervisor, and co-principal investigator of a prospective, longitudinal study of treatment outcome.

Dr. Plakun has long been active in the American Psychiatric Association as a voice advancing the importance of psychotherapy as part of the identity and skills of psychiatrists, and as a member of the Assembly Executive Committee and Board of Trustees. He served as Plaintiffs’ expert on adult mental disorders in the landmark Wit v. United Behavioral Health federal class-action. The strong plaintiffs’ verdict was hailed as a “game-changer” in the implementation of the mental health parity law by Former Congressman Patrick Kennedy.

Professional Affiliations/Organizational Memberships

 (APA) - APA Board of Trustees member representing New England and Eastern Canada

Psychoanalytic Fellow and former Trustee of the 

American Academy of Psychodynamic Psychiatry and Psychoanalysis

 and member of its College of Research Fellows

Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry Psychotherapy Committee

National Association for Behavioral Healthcare

Board-certified psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, researcher, and forensic psychiatrist

Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association

2003 Massachusetts Psychiatric Society “Outstanding Psychiatrist in Clinical Psychiatry”

2017 Honored by American Psychoanalytic Association for “Championing psychoanalytic and psychodynamic psychotherapy treatment within American psychiatry and paving the way towards a return to a more individualized treatment model”

Diagnosis, treatment, longitudinal course, and outcome of patients with borderline personality disorder and treatment-resistant disorders

Erikson Institute Staff

Eric M. Plakun, MD,

Senior Consultant, Erikson Institute for Education, Research, and Advocacy

Austen Riggs Center Medical Director/CEO 

, "How a Dream Led Me to Psychoanalysis" that has been set to 

"This column addresses the role of dreams in psychoanalysis and psychodynamic therapy. It includes an autobiographical perspective on how a dream led this psychiatrist to become a psychoanalyst and an introduction to social dreaming."

Headshot of Eric M. Plakun, MD, DLFAPA, FACPsych.

Eric M. Plakun, MD, DLFAPA, FACPsych

Professional Publications

In this Journal of Psychiatric Practice column, Dr. Eric Plakun offers an autobiographical perspective on how a dream led him to pursue training as a psychoanalyst.

How a Dream Led Me to Psychoanalysis

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