Blind Trust: Leaders and Followers in Times of Crisis

MA in anthropology from Stanford University

A board-certified psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, family researcher, and organizational consultant, Edward R. Shapiro, MD, is a distinguished faculty member in the Erikson Institute for Education, Research, and Advocacy of the Austen Riggs Center. He is the former Medical Director/CEO of the Center (1991-2011).

An organizational consultant for over thirty-five years, Dr. Shapiro has consulted with hospitals, mental health clinics, law firms, and family businesses. He has published over fifty articles and book chapters on human and organizational development, family functioning, and personality disorders, presenting papers in this country and abroad. He is the author of 

Finding a Place to Stand: Developing Self-Reflective Institutions, Leaders and Citizens

 (Phoenix, 2020). His book (with A. W. Carr), 

Lost in Familiar Places: Creating New Connections between the Individual and Society

, was published by Yale University Press (1991) as was his edited book, 

The Inner World in the Outer World: Psychoanalytic Perspectives

For a list (and downloadable copies) of Dr. Shapiro's publications, see: 

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Edward_Shapiro2/contributions

Professional Affiliations / Organizational Memberships

Founding member of the Psychoanalytic Society and Institute of the Berkshires

Advisory board member of Partners Confronting Collective Atrocities

Board member of the International Dialogue Initiative

Principal of the Boswell Group of New York

Clinical professor of psychiatry at Yale University School of Medicine

Certification in Psychoanalysis from the American Psychoanalytic Association

Fellow of the A.K. Rice Institute and the American College of Psychoanalysis

Felix and Helene Deutsch Scientific Award from the Boston Psychoanalytic Society

Research Prize from the Society for Family Therapy and Research

Philip Isenberg Teaching Award from McLean Hospital

Named 2007 “Outstanding Psychiatrist for Advancement of the Profession” by the Massachusetts Psychiatric Association

Named “Top Doctor” by U.S. News & World Report since 2011

Erikson Institute Distinguished Faculty

Distinguished Faculty in the Erikson Institute for Education, Research, and Advocacy

M. Gerard Fromm, PhD, is a distinguished faculty member in the 

Erikson Institute for Education, Research, and Advocacy

 of the Austen Riggs Center. He is the former first Evelyn Stefansson Nef Director of the Erikson Institute and former director of the Center’s Therapeutic Community Program. 

Dr. Fromm has taught at and consulted to a number of psychoanalytic institutes across the country. His current work includes psychoanalytically informed organizational consultation. In addition to his own practice, he is a past president of both the International Society for the Psychoanalytic Study of Organizations and the Center for the Study of Groups and Social Systems in Boston. He directed the Center’s residential Group Relations Conferences for three years and has served on the staff of Group Relations Conferences in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Israel. Dr. Fromm was also a visiting Fellow in the Psychotherapy Department of University College, London, and a member of the Academy for Critical Incident Analysis in New York. 

Dr. Fromm continues to teach and present. His publications include a number of books: 

The Facilitating Environment: Clinical Applications of Winnicott’s Theory

 (with Bruce L. Smith, PhD) (International Universities Press, Inc., 1989); 

Lost in Transmission: Studies of Trauma across Generations

Taking the Transference, Reaching toward Dreams: Clinical Studies in the Intermediate Area

A Spirit That Impels: Play, Creativity and Psychoanalysis

raveling through Time: How Trauma Plays Itself out in Families, Organizations and Society

International Society for the Psychoanalytic Study of Organizations

Center for the Study of Groups and Social Systems

Division of Psychoanalysis, American Psychological Association

Certified in psychoanalysis by the American Board of Professional Psychology

Assistant clinical professor at the Yale Child Study Center

President of the International Dialogue Initiative (IDI)

Partner in College Health and Counseling Service Consulting Services

Erikson Institute Staff

Faculty

Vamik D. Volkan, MD, is emeritus professor of psychiatry at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, an emeritus training and supervising analyst at the Washington Psychoanalytic Institute, and a past president of the International Society for Political Psychology, the Virginia Psychoanalytic Society, the Turkish-American Neuropsychiatric Society, and the American College of Psychoanalysts. He holds Honorary Doctorate degrees from Kuopio University, Finland and from Ankara University, Turkey.

For nearly three decades, Dr. Volkan has led interdisciplinary teams to various trouble spots around the world and has brought high-level ‘enemy’ representatives together for years-long unofficial dialogues. His work in the field has resulted in his developing new theories about large-group behavior in times of peace and war. Dr. Volkan was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008, supported by letters from 27 countries. He has authored or coauthored forty books and has edited or co-edited ten more. His recent projects include clinical teaching on subjects like mourning and technical issues in psychotherapy, books on psychotherapeutic technique and large group identity, an authobiographical account of his international work, and the formation of the International Dialogue Initiative. Dr. Volkan began his yearly visits to the Center in 2003.

, a film about his life and work, directed by Molly Castelloe, PhD, won the 

 given by the National Association for the Advancement of Psychoanalysis (NAAP). It also received the 

 "for furthering the discipline of psychohistory through the medium of documentary film."

Senior Erikson Scholar-Emeritus

This is a virtual screening discussion of large-group psychology in the context of the Capitol insurrection, the removal of confederate monuments, and the divisions we face in American politics today. Drawing upon relevant ideas from the work of professor Vamik Volkan, our panel and audience will discuss large-group dynamics, national identity, collective memory, the role of chosen trauma, and difficulties in shared mourning. Our aim is to acquire a deeper understanding of societal dynamics around the construction of social memory and its implications for large-group psychology and conflict resolution. This conversation was held on February 17, 2022 and we are happy to share the recording.

https://www.blindtrust.tv/documentaryfilmmaker

Guest Presentations

This is a virtual screening discussion of large-group psychology in the context of the Capitol insurrection, the removal of confederate monuments, and the divisions we face in American politics today. 

Large-Group Identity, Fallen Idols & the Capitol Siege

© 2024 The Austen Riggs Center

Privacy Policy

Follow us: