24-02-2025
Child psychologist from RI is honored as US Navy Civilian of the Year. Here's why.
Bristol resident Dr. Matthew Picerno, assigned to the U.S. Naval Hospital in Sigonella, Sicily, was recently selected as U.S. Navy 2024 Civilian of the Year for that command. Picerno is a clinical and child psychologist who also served on active duty in the Navy for eight years.
"Dr. Picerno is a cornerstone of the Sigonella community," said Lt. Cmdr. Meagan Chauvin, director of medical services. "As the sole child psychologist here, he has supported countless families and developed … resources and systems for children and teens in need. He is an exceptional leader and clinician, and we are so lucky to have him."
Picerno was born and raised in New Britain, Connecticut. However, his paternal grandparents lived in Cranston. 'Many of my special memories from childhood are of the weekend visits … to 'Lil' Rhody' to visit them,' he said in an email from Italy.
He fell in love with the Rhode Island coast as a boy, 'Yes, I was a 'Rocky Point' and 'Aunt Carrie's' kid! It simply wasn't summer until it included several slightly greasy bags of clam cakes and a couple of stuffies from a weather-beaten shack on the end of a dock.'
Picerno is a 1991 graduate of New Britain High School. While there, his first summer job was working in the surgical department of the local hospital. This was his introduction to a medical setting, which gave him an appreciation for the 'human aspects of health care that often get eclipsed by an over-focus on administrative elements."
Picerno received his bachelor of arts degree in psychology in 1995 from Trenton State College in New Jersey. He went on to graduate from George Mason University in Virginia, where he earned a master's degree in 1997 and his Ph.D. in clinical psychology in 2001.
The training director of the clinical psychology graduate program at George Mason suggested he consider the internship training opportunities provided by the military service branches.
'The more I learned about them, the more I became interested in pursuing them as a career option,' wrote Picerno. 'I saw the Armed Forces as a way to practice psychology in a manner completely different from the usual settings. I would have an opportunity to reach a population experiencing entirely different life circumstances and stressors than is typically the norm.'
Most important to Picerno, his patients would be service members and families investing their time and energy in the defense of this nation. He felt they were especially deserving of mental health support and wellness. 'From that point forward, I knew that's what I wanted to do,' he concluded.
Harking back to his love of the ocean, service in the Navy appealed to him the most. He was commissioned as a naval lieutenant in 2000 upon admission to the clinical psychology internship program at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.
The training included an assignment aboard the USS Wasp, an amphibious assault ship. This was his first exposure to deployed sailors and Marines.
He then served as a clinical psychologist at the New London submarine base from 2001 to 2004. This posting included underway experiences aboard two fast-attack submarines, the USS Seawolf and the USS Dallas. The stresses submariners face are totally different from other branches of the Navy, he said, adding, 'They provided entirely new insights for treating the mental health needs of sea-deployed service members.'
During this time, he met Dr. Debra Ann Tucker, a pediatric physician who had worked in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, before she also became a Navy medical officer. The stars aligned, and Matthew and Debra were married in 2005.
Although they had entered active duty service several years apart, both underwent initial officer training at the Newport Naval Station. 'We independently solidified our love for the Ocean State,' he added. 'When we married in 2005, we held the ceremony at Oceancliff Hotel in Newport, overlooking Castle Hill Cove."
In 'hopeful anticipation' of obtaining that final duty assignment at the Newport Naval Station, they 'preemptively purchased a home in The Highlands neighborhood of Bristol shortly after the wedding, planning to set our family roots there.'
He also completed a post-doctoral fellowship in pediatric psychology at Boston Children's Hospital in 2005. During that specialized training, he stayed current in the Navy, embarking on the USS Harry S. Truman during a training cruise. 'This was an ideal preparation for my upcoming assignment as the Ship's Psychologist for the USS Kitty Hawk – an aircraft carrier forward-deployed to Yokosuka, Japan.
'Directly observing the overwhelming toll the intense rhythm of operational settings can take on service members' mental well-being underscored for me the need for immediately-present health care of the highest caliber, along with effective systems that promoted and encouraged its use.'
Following promotion to lieutenant commander in 2007, he served as the child psychologist for the the Naval Hospital in Yokosuka.
He then deployed to Iraq with the Marines, where he served as the staff psychologist at the Al-Taqaddum Base. 'I was responsible for providing comprehensive psychological services to active-duty military members serving in a combat theater, treating psychiatric conditions greatly intensified by hazardous duty and imminent danger.'
He hit the family jackpot with his final active duty tour: an assignment to the Naval Health Clinic in Newport.
He was discharged from the Navy in 2008 and entered private practice with Feil & Oppenheimer Psychological Services in Barrington. There, he provided a wide range of outpatient mental health services for all age levels, along with community consultation and treatment.
Picerno remained in that practice for almost 11 years, until an opportunity arose that reignited his passion for caring for military and military-connected families.
In 2019 he applied for a position at the Naval Hospital/Naval Medical Readiness and Training Command in Sigonella, Italy. 'Here, I am the sole subject matter expert for pediatric mental health, serving the base community while supervising a staff of pediatric specialty clinicians, educators, and administrators – a group of exceptionally dedicated professionals with whom I'm blessed to work.'
Naval Hospital Sigonella is on the island of Sicily. Its staff of 387 serves approximately 8,500 active duty service personnel, family members, NATO members, retirees and other beneficiaries. Sigonella also manages a local satellite clinic and two branch health clinics located in Bahrain and Souda Bay on the island of Crete.
The Picerno family, by then including daughter Sophia, was able to live in that same Bristol home 'until we embarked on our current life adventure.' Sophia is now a 14-year-old clarinetist attending ninth grade at the Sigonella Middle/High School.
'Eventually, when the time is right, we'll hopefully be making our way back to the state we love,' he said.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Dr. Matthew Picerno honored as US Navy Civilian of the Year
