Photo By Thomas Cieslak | Navy Lieutenants Felicia Aponte-Eyl and Matthew Snow serve as mental health...... read more read more
The minds and mental health of Marines and Sailors serving aboard Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point are just as important as their physical fitness and occupational skills.
Two mental health professionals serving aboard the base are charged with ensuring service members have the resources to stay mentally ready for deployments and to maintain their mental health while away training or conducting operations.
At Navy Medicine Readiness & Training Command Cherry Point, Navy Lieutenants Matthew Snow and Felicia Aponte-Eylserve onthe facility’s Mental Health Team and care for patients in two different approaches: Snow as a Psychiatrist andAponte-Eylas a Clinical Psychologist.
“Our service members are routinely asked to function well in the face of heavy workload and an unpredictable schedule,” said Snow, a native of Ryegate, Montana. “The better someone’s mental health is, the healthier they can be while handling the challenges of being a service member.”
“If their mental health is good, they are able to adjust to the ever-changing demands of the Navy and work well,” said Aponte-Eyl, a native of Pacifica, California. “If it is poor, then we tend to see the exact opposite.
Originally planning to become a family medicine doctor, Snow realized in medical school he enjoyed aiding patients with their mental health more than any other field. His approach focuses on the prescribing of medication, but also on evaluation of any potential medical causes or contributing factors to a patient’s mental health. He and his patients often speak about sleep quality, metabolic health and potential substance abuse.
“I also specialize in being honest with people about when therapy will have more value than medication, and directing them to my colleagues when appropriate,” said Snow.
Aponte-Eyl provides that therapeutic expertise. A specialist in Neuropsychology, she serves on the mental health team as a generalist, often using psychological and cognitive assessments alongside evidence-based psychotherapy.
“The goal is…to teach skills that allow the [service member] to improve symptoms and return to their life and responsibilities,” said Aponte-Eyl, who was inspired to enter the mental health field after witnessing a close family member’s struggle to receive care after returning from a deployment.
This dual approach, combined with other facets of the NMRTC Mental Health team like the Intensive Outpatient Program, form an integrated approach to caring for the mental health of MCAS Cherry Point’s service members as they train and deploy.
“At the end of the day, most of us want to live a satisfying life, where we feel like we are up to the challenges that we have to face, and we have healthy relationships with the people around us that allow us to support each other during hard times,” said Snow.
| Date Taken: | 05.13.2026 |
| Date Posted: | 05.13.2026 07:17 |
| Story ID: | 565112 |
| Location: | CHERRY POINT, NORTH CAROLINA, US |
| Hometown: | PACIFICA, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Hometown: | RYEGATE, MONTANA, US |
| Web Views: | 22 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, We Keep the Warfighter’s Mind in the Fight: NMRTC Cherry Point Mental Health Professionals, by Thomas Cieslak, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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