Cherie Castellano

Cherie Castellano, MA, CSW, LPC, AAETS, is a national expert in the field of peer support after twenty-five years of experience as the creator of the “Reciprocal Peer Support Model” recognized as a national best practice by the American Psychiatric Association (2019) and Department of Defense Center of Excellence (2011.) Today Cherie is the founder of “VolunPEER” a non-profit organization designed to get, give and grow peer support for survivors of disaster, trauma, and medical illness. As the Rutgers University Behavioral Healthcare National Center for Peer Support director, Cherie has developed, led, and sustained over twenty peer support programs for a variety of specialty populations. Cherie’s Peer programs include Cop 2 Cop, Vet 2 Vet, Mom 2 Mom, Care2caregivers, Vets4warriors, Worker 2 Worker, Teacher2Teacher, Eye2Eye, NJ Fire EMS Lifeline, Nurse 2 Nurse and many more. Cherie leads The National Center for Peer Support, staffed by 150 peers and clinicians providing services on a state and national level, yielding millions of dollars of funding annually. Cherie is a voluntary faculty member of the Rutgers Department of Psychiatry, where she has honed her clinical skills as an expert in peer support and crisis and trauma-informed psychological services.

Ms. Castellano has been recognized internationally as an expert in the field of peer support, behavioral healthcare, and crisis intervention. Her experience as a lecturer has included international forums such as Australia and Europe as well as prestigious national forums such as the FBI National Academy. As a member of the 9/11 New York Emergency Services Delegation for the Port Authority Police Departments traveled to Ireland, Belfast, and England to share “9/11 Lessons Learned”.

As a Principal Investigator in a research grant, Cherie has partnered with the University of North Carolina’s “Global Peers for Progress Institute” leadership team to establish a program evaluation project for the RPS model, which established the model as an evidence-based practice in 2017.

Currently, Cherie serves on President Biden’s “National Consortium for Law Enforcement Wellness,” legislated to inform peer support and psychological support for law enforcement officers throughout the USA.

In 2023, Cherie joined the ICISF team and co-created a new model entitled “Peer Paracounseling” with Dr. George Everly, an innovation in crisis peer support.