Erikson Institute for Education, Research, and Advocacy of the Austen Riggs Center Wins The Sigourney Award-2021
/Work by Erikson Institute for Education, Research, and Advocacy of the Austen Riggs Center Wins The Sigourney Award-2021
Seattle, WA — Nov. 18, 2021 – The Sigourney Award annually rewards achievements that advance psychoanalytic thought with international recognition and a substantial cash prize. This year’s distinguished panel of independent judges evaluated work submitted from five continents. Today, William A. Myerson, Ph.D., MBA, and co-trustee of The Sigourney Trust announces the Erikson Institute for Education, Research, and Advocacy of the Austen Riggs Center’s work as one of three honored with The Sigourney Award-2021.
Work by the Erikson Institute for Education, Research, and Advocacy of the Austen Riggs Center in Stockbridge, Massachusetts demonstrates a significant commitment to, and investment in providing public and professional education about psychoanalysis as a clinical discipline and an applied theory for understanding human experience. The work contributes to interdisciplinary scholarship within psychoanalysis, between psychoanalysis and other related fields, and provides incubator support for projects in applied psychoanalysis that range from responding to local needs of schools, children, and families to understanding international conflicts.
“Supporting Mary Sigourney’s intentions for the award, work by the Erikson Institute helps expand the beneficial elements of psychoanalytic thought to diverse communities around the world,” says William A. Myerson, Ph.D., MBA, the Trust’s psychoanalytic co-trustee. “Offering a focus on public outreach to youth and communities, and an innovative linking of the arts with mental health, especially important amidst the social isolation experienced during the pandemic, distinguishes this prize-winning work,” he adds.
The Erikson Institute’s focus on youth, linking access to the arts with mental health, is a noteworthy innovation that expands psychoanalytic thinking beyond traditional clinical and academic boundaries, particularly within the context of limited arts education in schools. Through its Erikson Scholar program, interdisciplinary scholars have been invited to Riggs for three- to four-month research-based intellectual and clinical immersion residencies. Research in psychoanalytic approaches to understanding suicide and personality, and advocacy for access to care with national impact are additional contributions.
Academically, in the past 10 years, 26 Erikson Scholars-in-residence and two Senior Erikson Scholars have been sponsored through the Erikson Scholar program. Additionally, the Erikson Institute created an institutional archive for the organization’s 2019 Centennial which includes manuscript collections from Otto Will, Robert Holt, and Erik Erikson now available to scholars for research. The Erikson Institute integrates psychoanalytic training, research, applied psychoanalysis, group dynamics, community outreach, advocacy for policy change supporting access to care, seeking maximal impact on the field and in the community.
Presenting its psychoanalytic identity in both clinical and public domains, the Erikson Institute has impacted new audiences through novel approaches. More than 1,000 visitors learned about the Center’s history of hospital-based psychoanalytic treatment in the context of North American mental health through a public exhibition in 2019. The Erikson Prize for Excellence in Mental Health Media further reaches new audiences by recognizing writers, filmmakers, and journalists for coverage of mental health topics, providing a public forum for prize recipients to discuss their work. And the Arts in Mind program and Creativity Seminars explore the connection between the arts and mental health, expanding reach beyond traditional clinical and academic boundaries.
“Our mission is to preserve a space for learning that is linked to historical psychoanalysis while joining contemporary scholarship and advances in the field to make a difference in the world beyond the small number of patients we treat,” says Jane G. Tillman, PhD., accepting the Award on behalf of the nonprofit. “We strive to make psychoanalytic concepts accessible, relevant, interesting, and applicable to a wide range of problems and settings, and by winning The Sigourney Award-2021, our portfolio of psychoanalytic education, research, and advocacy is strengthened, and gains increased public awareness,” she adds.
This winning work for The Sigourney Award-2021 adds to a long list of innovative contributions advancing psychoanalytic thought that, since 1990, have been honored with the independent prize. This year, work by Argentinian Dr. Jorge Claudio Ulnik and Maryland-based physician-psychoanalysts Dr. David Scharff and Dr. Jill Savege Scharff was also rewarded.
Look for this year’s award-winning work introduced through individual videos on The Sigourney Award website in early 2022. Applications for The Sigourney Award-2022 will be accepted in March 2022 for work completed between 2011 and 2021. The Sigourney Award includes a substantial cash prize.