Meet Our Providers – Westfield, NJ

Dr. Leopold Bolona, Psychiatrist

Board Certified by the American Academy of Psychiatry and Neurology

Dr. Leopold Bolona is a distinguished psychiatrist renowned for his expertise, compassion, and dedication to mental health care. Fluent in both English and Spanish, Dr. Bolona obtained his medical degree from the Universidad Catolica Santiago of Guayaquil, Ecuador. He completed his General Psychiatry Residency and Child/Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship at Bronx-Lebanon Hospital in New York City, where he also instructed medical students and psychiatry residents.

Founder of Embrace Psychiatric Wellness Center: Dr. Bolona founded Embrace Psychiatric Wellness Center, a leading private practice with offices in Wall and Westfield, New Jersey. Under his guidance, Embrace offers comprehensive mental health services, led by a team of 24 dedicated mental health practitioners, including:

• Neuropsychologists
• Licensed Social Workers
• Licensed Clinical Social Workers
• Licensed Professional Counselors
• Nurse Practitioners, Psychotherapists
• Certified SPRAVATO/TMS Technicians,
• … And More

Comprehensive Care in a Peaceful Environment: At Embrace Psychiatric Wellness Center, Dr. Bolona and his team provide superior care in a peaceful, comfortable, and inclusive environment. Practitioners utilize a wide range of resources to find solutions tailored to each patient's needs, including medication management, talk therapy, and advanced treatments.

Bilingual Expertise: Dr. Bolona is bilingual in Spanish and English, allowing him to effectively communicate with a diverse range of patients and provide personalized care.

Leadership and Advocacy: Dr. Bolona has transitioned away from patient appointments to focus on mentoring and advocacy. He continues to mentor and teach nurse practitioner students and physician assistant students from Chamberlain University, Walden University, LaSalle University, Monmouth University, and the University of Delaware.

Legacy of Excellence: Dr. Bolona's commitment to compassionate care and innovative leadership continues to define Embrace Psychiatric Wellness Center, ensuring high standards of mental health care and support for the community.

Fun Facts: In addition to his professional achievements, Dr. Bolona enjoys staying active and has completed multiple marathons and triathlons. He has a passion for travel, exploring different cultures and cuisines around the world.

Caitlin (Caity) DePaulo, Psychiatric Advanced Practice Nurse

Caitlin (known as “Caity” by her patients) decided to go into healthcare because she wanted to make a real difference in the lives of struggling people. She was a Registered Nurse who worked in emergency settings for seven years before pursuing her Master of Nursing at Hunter College in the Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner program. She made this change because she realized what a lack of resources there was for psychiatric patients, including members of her own family who suffered from mental illness and addiction. As a practitioner, being able to improve someone’s quality of life is the best job satisfaction she could ever hope for!

Today, Caity is a proud member of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association (APNA) and has her APN certificate. She also has her Waiver X, which allows her to prescribe medication-assisted drug treatments for those in need. Having grown up in Astoria, Queens, she lived in Manhattan for her adult life and just moved to NJ in 2021! She’s proud to now be a member of the Embrace Psychiatric Wellness Center team. One skill she has that immensely benefits our patients is her ability to speak fluent English and Spanish (along with some not-so-good French).

Outside of work, Caity got married in December of 2022 and looks forward to starting a family very soon! She already has two special nieces who feel just like her kids. As far as hobbies go, she enjoys traveling with her husband, hanging out with family, cooking, reading, exercising, and going to dinners with her closest friends.

Edwin Bonilla, Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner

With 15+ years of experience in the medical field, Edwin loves having the opportunity to help others each day through his work. His mother always wanted to be a nurse herself, and she passed this strong desire onto her son so that he could one day make a positive impact in people’s lives! Mental health is particularly important and can be untreated for multiple reasons, such as lack of access, societal stigma, and lack of providers who speak multiple languages. Because of his personal experience with friends and family members who have struggled mentally, he decided to specialize in this unique field and hasn’t looked back since.

Edwin is a first-generation immigrant from Honduras. He studied at La Salle University, achieving his graduate degree in advancing nursing and specializing in mental health. He has worked with mental health patients throughout the vast majority of his career, including inpatient units, long-term care facilities, and outpatient care. Today, he is a Board-Certified Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner, a member of the Neuroscience Education Institute, and a member of the National Institute of Mental Health.

Outside of working hours, Edwin spends lots of time with his loving family. Some of his biggest hobbies include smoking meats, barbequing, and cheering on his favorite sports teams.

JoAnne Piaggio, Nurse Practitioner

JoAnne has been a part of the healthcare field for multiple decades, starting out as an operating room nurse in 1989, which was a position she held for 35 years. However, a family tragedy changed the trajectory of her work – at the age of 14, her teenage daughter attempted suicide. It took her six months to find a practitioner to help her, and there was a six month wait for an appointment. GenPsych literally saved her daughter’s life, but learning how few Advanced Practice Nurses (APN’s) were available in the state troubled her. She decided to undergo the post Master’s Certificate for Advanced Practice Nursing program at Monmouth College, graduating in May of 2019 – and the rest is history! 

Today, JoAnne loves being able to provide essential mental healthcare to people all over New Jersey, changing lives for the better. She currently lives in Beachwood with her husband and their three grown children. Outside of working hours, she enjoys reading, putting together puzzles, learning how to crochet, and spending LOTS of quality time with Natasha, her fur baby. She’s also the self-proclaimed queen of useless trivia.

Kristen Heristchi, Physician Assistant

Born in Pennsylvania and raised in Winter Haven, FL, Kristen has been working in Internal Medicine and primary care for over two decades. Having grown up on a dairy farm, she grew a passion for animals and wanted to be a veterinarian at first. She even studied pre-veterinary medicine as an undergraduate at the University of South Florida in Tampa. However, she realized that she also had an interest in human medicine and began pursuing a career as a physician assistant after having the concept introduced to her by her childhood friend’s sister. Since then, she’s never looked back and can’t see herself doing anything else! After all, she gets to meet incredibly interesting and wonderful people while helping them to improve their overall quality of life.

Kristen began her career by attending the University of South Florida before studying at Nova Southeastern University in Davie, FL. She later graduated from Nova Southeastern University College of Osteopathic Medicine, Physician Assistant program and has been a board-certified Physician Assistant for over 20 years. For 13 years, she performed all medical clearances for the inpatient psychiatric units at Lakeland Regional Health in Lakeland, FL. She later furthered her training in psychiatry at Yantra Psychiatric Services and earned an additional board certification in Psychiatry. Today, she treats patients both outpatient and in residential rehabilitation settings for general psychiatry and addiction medicine. She’s also a Suboxone, Sublocade, and Vivitrol prescriber trained via the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and is also a member of the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants.

Outside of psychiatry, Kristen loves being with her tight-knit family who has supported her in every endeavor and is her source of strength. In her spare time, she enjoys playing with her Labrador Retriever, Bratwurst, and her parakeet named Jose Luis Gaspar. She also likes baking, admiring abstract art, watching movies, looking at the nighttime space shuttle launches from her backyard, and is a major Saturday Night Live fan. One fun fact about her: she grew up in a very musical family, as her mother has a master’s in music education. In turn, Kristen can play various instruments, like the ukulele and harp, and has even been a soloist in several past church performances and weddings!

Jamie Lee Durchin, Physician Assistant Board-Certified in Psychiatry 

Jamie brings over 15 years of experience to our team—she has practiced in psychiatry since graduating from physician’s assistant school in 2006. She earned a bachelor's degree in biology from Temple University and went on to complete her medical training at King’s College, obtaining a master’s in physician assistant studies. Today, she is an active member of the American Academy of Physician Assistants.

Jamie holds a Certificate of Added Qualifications (CAQ) in Psychiatry. This requires passing a specialty board examination every 10 years and completing training in addition to mandatory boards. To first qualify for the CAQ, she had to work in psychiatry for at least 2000 hours/1 year and receive a written recommendation from a physician, lead/senior PA, or physician/PA postgraduate program director.

The part she enjoys most about her work is helping people manage their mental health, and then she gets to hear back from them to see how our team has positively impacted their lives. Outside of the office, she lives with her partner/boyfriend of 5+ years, and she is an avid traveler who has visited 20 countries and 30 states (so far!). Back at home, you’ll usually find her cooking/baking, gardening, or biking.

Renee Woronowicz, Site Manager (Wall Township Location)

Melanie Miller, Clinical Program Manager

Administrative Staff

Heather Nocciolo, Office Manager