Gina Metroff

One of my specialties is Anger Management - I facilitated court-ordered Anger Management groups for several years and also worked with angry adults and adolescents in a residential program for at-risk youth. Currently, I work with individuals who are struggling with handling their anger and offer ways to better deal with the issues or events that are at the root of their anger.

I have been a Licensed Independent Substance Abuse Counselor for more than 20 years. I have facilitated court-ordered substance abuse groups, DUI education groups, and substance abuse treatment groups many years. Currently, I work with all types of substance abuse including the families of addicts and alcoholics who want to gain a better understanding of addiction. I am also a certified SAP professional and am able to provide return-to-duty SAP evaluations.

I love working with adolescents! My specialty when I worked with at-risk youth was family reunification - seeing families who had given up on each other become united. In my current practice, I work with adolescents who struggle with school,, family, substance use or the tranition to becoming an adult.

Family systems therapy supports people in resolving conflicts with their family or problems that exist within a family unit. All members of the family contribute to the dynamic of whether the family is functioning in a healthy or unhealthy way. My experience includes many years of working with families to help them resolve their differences and become a more cohesive unit. Family systems therapy also looks at how one's family of origin has affected, and still affects, one's current life.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, is one of the most effective forms of therapy. Simply said, CBT works to change one's thinking in order to change how one feels which in turn helps change behaviors. I have used CBT extensively with individuals, both adults and adolescents, groups, in substance abuse treatment, and with family systems.

There are many types of addiction and people often wonder if they are an "addict" or not. One definition of a substance abuse issue is that if it is causing problems in a person's life then it is a problem. My approach is to look at the problems that the behavior is causing, and the reasons that the person uses substances to relieve the emotions, and figure out how to best deal with the underlying issues.