the woman
MEET CHERESE
behind the
Message.
Helping you move from functioning to flourishing by cultivating lasting peace.
ABOUT CHERESE
Cherese Carter helps high-achieving Christian women who are outwardly confident and inwardly crumbling. They're the strong ones everyone comes to, exhausted, performance-bound, and chasing peace they can never quite catch.Through her signature Reclaim, Release, Restore framework, Cherese guides women to move from performance to peace, from existing to living, and from proving their worth to embodying it. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor, author, and speaker whose work meets women at the intersection of clinical mental health and unwavering Christian faith.
Cherese is the author of Hello, Peace: 30 Days to Reclaiming Peace, Releasing Stress, and Restoring Joy — a devotional that combines Biblical truth with practical mental health tools for women who are tired of performing their way through life. Her first book, Hello, Purpose: Say Yes to a Life That Matters, was born from her own journey of learning that achievement was never going to be the same thing as fulfillment. Together, the books form the foundation of her work: helping women redefine what it means to live well.
THE IMPACT
Lives touched. hearts changed. peace restored.
2,000+
YOUNG WOMEN
impacted through mentorship & outreach
200+
EVENTS + WORKSHOPS
led across churches, schools & organizations
10K+
LIVES EQUIPPED
through speaking, ministry & counseling
5
STATES LICENSED
to provide therapy & support
MORE ABOUT CHERESE
A graduate of Texas Christian University with a double degree in Business Marketing and Religion, Cherese holds a Master's degree in Professional Counseling and is licensed to practice as a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in the District of Columbia, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Texas and as Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) in Maryland. In her clinical work, she specializes in high-achieving women, anxious teens, and young adults navigating anxiety, the inner critic, and the quiet exhaustion of always being the one who holds it all together. She has also served as an adjunct professor at Capital Seminary and Graduate School, teaching Counseling Principles and Techniques to the next generation of clinicians.
As a frequent conference, church, and workshop speaker, Cherese brings a wise-aunt warmth that makes hard truths land soft. Her storytelling creates space for women to be honest about what they're carrying — and her clinical lens gives them tools to set some of it down.
CREDENTIALS & EXPERTISE
EDUCATION
Texas Christian University
B.A. in Business Marketing
& Religion
Masters Degree in
Professional Counseling
National Certified
Counselor (NCC)
LICENSURE
Licensed Professional Counselor
DC, MD, VA, TX, PA
Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) — Maryland
OTHER
Adjunct Professor,
Capital Seminary & Graduate School
Founder of S.H.I.N.E
(Serve Him In Everything)
She is also the First Lady of Greater Mount Calvary Holy Church in Washington, D.C., and the founder of the S.H.I.N.E. Movement, a Christian nonprofit that has served over 2,000 girls ages 12–18 since 2010.
Today, Cherese sits at a rare intersection. She is a licensed professional counselor who is also a preacher. A clinician who is also a First Lady. A therapist who can hold space for your anxiety and your faith without asking you to choose between them. She calls it “combining spiritual knowledge and clinical knowledge with the word peace” — and it works.
Peace is not just Cherese’s message. It is her ministry, her method, and her mission.
When Cherese is not on stage, in session, or writing her next chapter, she is home. She is the wife of Pastor Rodney L. Carter Jr. and the mother of three: Rodney III, Charis, and Carrington. Together, they lead Greater Mount Calvary Holy Church in Washington, D.C. — a faith community that has been serving for over 60 years. Cherese believes your value is never up for negotiation. And she has spent her entire life making sure you know that.
