Faculty Appointments

• Professor – Department of Psychiatry , Research (SMD) – Primary

Biography

Professional Background

Catherine Cerulli, PhD, is currently a Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC). Dr. Cerulli is the Director of Susan B. Anthony Center and the Laboratory of Interpersonal Violence and Victimization. She received a PhD in criminal justice from SUNY at Albany, NY in 2004 and her Master’s Degree in criminal justice from SUNY at Albany, NY in 1998. She holds a JD from the University at Buffalo law school. Dr. Cerulli received the Excellence in Public Service award from the SUNY Albany Alumni Association in 2014 and the National Institute of Mental Health New Investigator Award in 2005.

She was formerly an Assistant District Attorney in Monroe County, New York, where she created a special misdemeanor domestic violence unit in 1995. She has been working on issues surrounding domestic violence and child abuse for over three decades, in a variety of capacities. Various federal agencies have funded Dr. Cerulli’s work, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institute of Justice, the Office on Violence Against Women, the National Institute of Mental Health, and the Veteran’s Administration. She works internationally to ameliorate violence and currently is assisting with projects addressing the health and welfare of individuals living in the Sub Mekong region. She is a founding Board Member for the Crisis Nursery of Greater Rochester, Inc., a grass roots organization providing emergency respite care for greater Rochester area families with young children.

Read the titles of the articles she’s written. Here’s a link to her full Bio.

Think she’d be able to show me compassion. Right? Think she would be a GREAT advocate for me. Right? You certainly wouldn’t expect her to treat me like dirt. Right.

Yeah, well. You’d be wrong.

Just when you think you’re making a positive step. Seeking the help and understanding afforded other victims that seek it. You meet people like Kate Cerulli.

So, here’s the story:

May 7, 2018.

I reach out to her and talk with her. I am DESPERATE to find help and someone to trust. I am VERY interested in exploring research into PTSD remedies. My physical health is declining rapidly, and I am very dissappointed that Beckerman hasn’t called me back, and when/if she does it will not be productive. (Read the Beckerman page).

So, I go into it, I am crying, and weeping, and angry, and adrenalin is making me crazier. As I relive it AGAIN, I ask her if my “retelling this over and over, is helping or hurting me. Warren did this, then that, then this happened, then that…And where was URMC? What about ME? What about all the OTHER victims? The Cops were no help…same old story, but maybe she would help me?

She is sincere, she seems truly concerned. She believes me. She thinks this is horrible what happened to me. She’s going to “look” into it. She going back into some conference, she would call me back shortly.

Uh, OH!! That’s not what I called for. I don’t want her to look into anything. I want her to help me get PAST it.

But I am very hopeful that in some way, I might get the healthcare I need and deserve, eventually.

And she does call me back, but at some point in the conversation, I decide that I should be recording her. Something about her tenor, her attitude, maybe even for no reason other than out of habit. But I started the tape anyway, and I’m glad I did.

Listen:

She listened intently. She talks about Mary Randall, and her friends in “corporate council”. She promised to call me back, Thursday, maybe Friday. She has this conference that is so important.

So, I’m 1500 miles away in Florida, alone, lonely, in pain, slowly getting worse. Everything I do is contrary to my PTSD recovery, but necessary for my physical recovery.

And I wait. And I get angrier, and feel more worthless, I am tired all the time. And my gut hurts, and my arm hurts, and the stress of the other shit in life is making me more depressed.

But I wait. For a little bit anyway. And yes, I agree, I start to sound like an asshole. PTSD is a bitch. Clearly an asshole who needs help though. Before he turns into a bigger suicidal asshole.

May 12, 2018

All I can say about this exchange is; sorry for your loss, Kate Cerulli. But over-all, the info is pretty vague, and couldn’t she just have sent this text and info on Friday, May 11? Or even Thursday? Or better, called me. As she promised. Instead of condescending to me, “I also told you…” and “Despite that…”.

And yes, I am snarky and off-putting, because it’s 8am on Saturday, and my guts are killing me, and my arm is killing me. And I’m feeling mighty worthless, and abandoned. After this, I felt worse, more days of pain, more waiting.

And a text exchange:

It’s hard to hear that my getting any help is dependent on conferences and celebrations, and this does nothing to make me feel better. Thanks for the immediacy Kate. Thanks for making me wonder exactly when “next week” I’ll hear from you. What Information your waiting on, and what “homework you did”.

MAY 17, 2018

So I wait. Through the weekend, alone. I wait. Through the next week I wait. Every day the pain is worse. I am getting more depressed. I work on the house. I walk the dog. I am sleepless. I am waiting for Kate Cerulli to call me with “all the answers”, or at least some of them. I am waiting to get the help I need. I am waiting and waiting, and it’s Thursday, and it’s another week without help.

I finally get this TEXT message from Kate Cerulli.

Apparently, sending a text is the best way to respond to victims who are clearly pretty tormented. So much for empathy, and caring. Let’s forget about promises and transparency, and well, treating anyone with respect and dignity.

It’s no wonder I get “nasty” and angry. This pisses me off to this day. Not a call? Is this not serious? What is going on? Who did she talk to at the DA’s office? She is clearly now a coward, and avoiding me. She is not part of the solution, but part of the problem. She condones the victim-blaming, heavy-handed tactics of her employer. She is complicit now. I am so glad I taped her.

But I am mostly angry at myself for wasting all of my time, and allowing Kate Cerulli to injure me more. False hope, and abandonment is all the company I have.

Anyway, after a good “cry”, and very frustrated, I left this message for Kate.

And a bit later that day, still no call. But MAYBE there’s some kind of “hope” in here. I am naive, and kind of stupid. She is just kissing me off. I didn’t see it then, but I do now. Kate Cerulli is putting me in more danger. She is abandoning me to an attorney. She’d walk a blind man into traffic.

May 18, 2018

I am adding the audio of the “message” I left for Aileen Shinaman here.

Notice how fast this secretary is to “inform public safety”. You think they have me in a database? I sure do.

I don’t see me being too much of an asshole here though. And I like the long hold while she calls “someone.” What do they say to her? Can’t I just leave a message for Shinamen, and go on? Why the adversarial attitude?

Shortly after this, I googled and found Aileen Shinaman’s direct phone number. Here’s the message I left.

May 24, 2018

June 1, 2018

AND THEN SHE FILED A COMPLAINT WITH THE BRIGHTON POLICE DEPARTMENT!!!

This Audio is of Chief Mark Henderson returning my call and reciting the “complaint” filed.

Please read the Post June 1, 2018. This post has the details of the fall-out from Kate Cerulli’s actions. That post includes the other calls I received and made that day.

Kate Cerulli is one big hypocrite. She’d lead a blind man into traffic. SHE IS TOTALLY NOT A PERSON A VICTIM SHOULD TURN TOO!!

Seems the last text I sent her was a nice Kiss-off. Guess I hurt Kate’s feelings. Maybe I said something that hit a little too close to home. Whatever, it seems pretty clear I won’t be in touch with her again.

Funny, she can file a complaint on this…in BRIGHTON, not even in the proper jurisdiction. Think as a DA she’d know this.

But Me? After a sexual assault? Guess not. Wonder why I am so suspicious, am I right to be? Or do guys like me “get what we deserve”.

Even Jackie Beckerman thinks she’s a bit nuts for calling the cops on me. What do you think?

Isn’t she a big tough former DA? With an expertise in handling crime victims? Seems a bit over the top.

Remember, I do agree I sound a bit, or a lot, like an asshole. But I do suffer from that TBI, and PTSD. And shit, that’s what the point of this whole conversation is.

I sure don’t want to be dealing with this shit forever.

Was I wrong to try and communicate with her? Called her because Beckerman was just giving me more “Double-talk”.

You’d think with her background she would be able to understand that I’m hurting. That I’m looking for help. Pretty clear I need a shrink. Why would she call the cops instead of  calling me back?

Please read the post June 1, 2018.