Rachel Chernick, L.C.S.W., Ph.D.

Rachel Chernick, L.C.S.W. is responsible for overall program management of helpline services. She leads all programmatic, clinical, administrative and training activities. In addition, Rachel directs the Family Services Evaluation Research team, where she is responsible for the evaluation of all Family Services programs, including the development of assessment tools and outcomes monitoring activities. Rachel also serves as a subject matter expert on issues related to opioids, substance use disorders, medication-assisted treatment and family support.

Rachel has many years of clinical and research experience in the addiction arena with a primary professional focus on problematic opioid use. She previously served as the Program Director of the Opioid Treatment Program at the Addiction Institute of New York at Mt. Sinai Hospital and as a clinician in a variety of direct care services in New York City. In addition, she has worked as an Adjunct Professor at the Silberman School of Social Work at CUNY Hunter College.

Her research experience includes projects at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene in the Bureau of Drug and Alcohol Prevention, Care and Treatment and at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. She has completed two years of family therapy training at the Ackerman Institute for the Family and a post-Master’s training program in the Treatment of Alcohol and Drug Abusing Clients at New York University. Rachel is currently completing her PhD in Social Welfare at the CUNY Graduate Center—her dissertation research focuses on the social factors influencing young women’s initiation to non-medical prescription opioid use in New York City. Rachel is also a licensed clinical social worker, and a graduate of Columbia School of Social Work.