Online IOP for College Students and Emerging Adults in MA

Cheryl Puntil, MN, APRN, PMH-CNS, BC

Chief Nursing Officer

Cheryl Puntil, MN, APRN, PMH-CNS, BC

Chief Nursing Officer

Cheryl Puntil, MN, APRN, PMH-CNS, BC, is the chief nursing officer at the Austen Riggs Center. The Austen Riggs Center specializes in the long-term treatment of persons with psychiatric disorders with intensive psychodynamic psychotherapy promoting resilience and self-direction in adults (18+) with complex psychiatric problems.
She has more than 40 years of psychiatric mental health (PMH) experience and has worked in specialty areas such as geriatric, medical, and adult psychiatric nursing. Her expertise lies in caring for: those who have diagnoses of depression, dementia, and delirium; those at risk for suicide; and those receiving electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). She was a clinical nurse specialist (CNS) at the Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital at UCLA for more than 20 years and was most recently an instructor at Hawaii Community College, where she was on the tenure track teaching ASN/LPN students.
Ms. Puntil has a passion for advocating for nursing professionalism in the healthcare arena and the practice of psychodynamic nursing.

Professional Affiliations/Organizational Memberships

  • American Psychiatric Nurses Association (APNA) member
  • Berkshire Coalition for Suicide Prevention (BCSP) board member

Certifications/Appointments

  • Lead trainer in the APNA facilitator suicide prevention training
  • Served on a task force for the APNA Education Committee to develop registered nurse (RN) competencies for the assessment and management of individuals at risk for suicide in the in-patient setting which resulted in publication and curriculum course development (Advocates of Hope)
  • Partnered with other experts to be a part of the APNA Transitions in Practice (ATP) certificate program, co-teaching risk assessment and mental status exam

Awards/Recognitions

  • APNA Annual Award for Distinguished Service / 2017

Research Interests

  • Suicide prevention, ECT, counter-transference and transference (boundaries), depression, open setting residential care, therapeutic community