Stockbridge, Massachusetts — A free public roundtable exploring the psychological effects of digital life is set to accept place on Saturday, May 9, 2026, from 10:30 a.m. To noon, hosted by the Erikson Institute of the Austen Riggs Center. The event, titled “Dislocated Presences: Technology, the Psyche, and the Meaning of Virtual Space,” will examine how increasing reliance on screens for relationships, therapy, and daily interaction is reshaping human intimacy, presence, and mental life.
The roundtable brings together scholars and clinicians from psychoanalysis, literary theory, and psychology to discuss how digital technologies challenge and extend foundational psychoanalytic concepts such as transitional space, the container-contained dynamic, and the skin ego. These ideas, originally developed to understand early childhood development and emotional bonding, are being reconsidered in the context of screen-mediated relationships and virtual environments where physical proximity is absent.
Attendance is free and open to the public, with both in-person and virtual participation options available. Registration is required for all attendees and can be completed through a dedicated Zoom webinar link. The event is designed for mental health professionals, scholars, students, and members of the public interested in the intersection of technology and mental well-being.
The discussion will be moderated by Hannah Schmitt, a Psychology Fellow at the Austen Riggs Center. Panelists include Ben Kafka, associate professor of media studies at New York University; Leora Trub, a clinical psychologist and adjunct faculty member at Pace University known for her research on digital intimacy and texting behaviors; and Christian Thorne, associate professor of English at Williams College, whose work bridges literary theory and psychoanalytic thought.
This roundtable serves as the final installment of the “Rooted & Displaced: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on the Meaning of Place” series, an international initiative co-presented by the Sigmund Freud Museum in Vienna, the Freud Foundation US, and the Erikson Institute of the Austen Riggs Center. The series has examined how experiences of place — including displacement, belonging, and loss — influence identity, memory, and psychological development across cultures and disciplines.
According to the Austen Riggs Center, the series aims to foster dialogue between clinical practice, academic research, and cultural analysis, particularly around how environments shape psychic life. Past installments have featured contributions from historians, philosophers, and clinicians exploring themes such as migration, home, and digital alienation.
The Erikson Institute, named after developmental psychologist Erik H. Erikson, focuses on advancing understanding of human development across the lifespan through clinical work, research, and education. As part of the Austen Riggs Center, a psychiatric hospital and residential treatment program in Stockbridge, it emphasizes psychodynamic approaches to complex mental health conditions, often working with individuals who have not responded to conventional treatments.
Austen Riggs, founded in 1919, operates under a unique model that integrates psychotherapy, pharmacology, and therapeutic community principles. It does not require locked doors or physical restraints, instead emphasizing personal responsibility and relational healing within an open therapeutic setting. The center maintains affiliations with several academic institutions and hosts regular conferences, lectures, and training programs for mental health professionals.
Ben Kafka’s scholarly work centers on media theory, surveillance culture, and the history of psychological technologies. He has written extensively on how digital systems reshape perception and behavior, particularly in relation to attention, memory, and emotional regulation. His research often intersects with psychoanalytic critiques of modernity and the effects of capitalist structures on inner life.
Leora Trub’s clinical and academic focus includes the psychology of digital communication, especially among adolescents and young adults. She has studied how texting patterns reflect attachment styles, emotional regulation, and interpersonal conflict, coining terms such as “texting anxiety” and “digital dissociation” to describe maladaptive responses to constant connectivity. Her work advocates for mindful technology employ as a component of emotional health.
Christian Thorne teaches courses on modernist literature, critical theory, and the intersection of psychoanalysis and narrative. His scholarship explores how literary forms can reveal unconscious processes and how narrative structures mirror psychic experiences. He has contributed to discussions on how digital fragmentation affects narrative coherence and the capacity for sustained reflection.
Hannah Schmitt, as a Psychology Fellow at Austen Riggs, participates in clinical training, seminar leadership, and research initiatives focused on applying psychodynamic principles to contemporary psychological challenges. Her role in moderating the roundtable reflects the institute’s commitment to bridging clinical insight with interdisciplinary inquiry.
The concept of “transitional space,” originally introduced by pediatrician and psychoanalyst Donald Winnicott, refers to the psychological realm between inner experience and external reality where play, creativity, and meaning-making occur. In digital contexts, scholars are questioning whether virtual environments can serve similar functions — or whether they disrupt the development of authentic selfhood by replacing embodied interaction with performance-based engagement.
Similarly, the “container-contained” model, rooted in the work of Wilfred Bion, describes how caregivers help infants manage overwhelming emotions by emotionally receiving, processing, and returning those feelings in a tolerable form. In an age of constant digital stimulation and instant gratification, some clinicians argue that young people may lack opportunities to develop internal regulatory capacities, relying instead on external devices to soothe discomfort.
The “skin ego,” a term coined by psychoanalyst Didier Anzieu, describes the psychic boundary that gives individuals a sense of cohesion and containment, likened to the function of skin in holding the body together. In virtual spaces where avatars and curated profiles dominate, questions arise about how this psychic boundary is formed, maintained, or eroded when physical cues are absent and identity becomes fluid or fragmented.
These theoretical frameworks are being revisited not to reject digital life, but to understand its psychological consequences and identify ways to foster healthier relationships with technology. Panelists are expected to discuss how teletherapy — accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic — has altered the therapeutic relationship, whether online rituals can create meaningful belonging, and how screen-mediated interactions affect empathy, attention, and emotional availability.
Recent studies have shown that while digital platforms increase access to mental health care and social connection, especially for marginalized or geographically isolated individuals, they also correlate with heightened anxiety, disrupted sleep, and feelings of social comparison. The roundtable aims to move beyond binary judgments about technology being “quality” or “subpar” and instead explore nuanced pathways toward psychological resilience in a networked world.
The Austen Riggs Center continues to offer clinical services, training, and public education initiatives focused on deepening understanding of the human mind. Information about upcoming events, including recordings of past roundtables, is available through its official website and public programming calendar.
As digital life becomes increasingly embedded in everyday experience, conversations like this one are essential for clinicians, educators, policymakers, and the public seeking to understand not just how we use technology, but how it uses us — shaping our emotions, relationships, and sense of self in ways we are only beginning to comprehend.
For those interested in attending, registration remains open via the Austen Riggs Center’s event portal. The roundtable will be conducted via Zoom, with options to participate either remotely or in person at the center’s Stockbridge campus. Recordings may be made available following the event for those unable to attend live.
This event reflects a growing recognition within mental health circles that psychological well-being cannot be understood in isolation from the technological environments in which we live. By bringing together diverse perspectives, the Erikson Institute and its partners aim to contribute to a more thoughtful, human-centered approach to navigating life in the digital age.
To stay informed about future events in the “Rooted & Displaced” series or other public offerings from the Austen Riggs Center, individuals are encouraged to subscribe to the center’s mailing list or follow its official announcements through verified channels.
As preparations continue for the May 9 roundtable, organizers emphasize that the goal is not to reject digital innovation, but to ensure that its evolution supports — rather than undermines — the fundamental human needs for connection, meaning, and psychological integrity.