Sonny Silva
National Outreach Coordinator
Sonny Silva is a treatment resource to first responder families and those assisting with their behavioral health needs, including peer support specialists, Employee Assistance Professionals, therapists, and union. Sonny serves the Northeast (Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Hampshire, Maine, and Vermont) and Arizona.
A retired first responder himself, Sonny worked inside the walls of the Massachusetts Department of Corrections for 27 years, before becoming a member of the DOC’s Employee Assistance Service Unit. Its purpose was to provide internal peer support to employees and families with behavioral health needs. After five years with the unit, Sonny retired as Acting Director and went on to work in the treatment world, where he has specialized in issues that affect first responders for more than eight years. He has training in Peer Support, Critical Incident Stress Management, and Suicide Prevention, and is a certified QPR Instructor.
Sonny’s passion for helping first responders with mental health and substance use needs is personal. After losing his sister, Elaine Silva, a former detective, to alcoholism, he felt led to change the stigma that prevents too many first responders from asking for help.
