Expertise
Community-Based Participatory Research; Health Disparities; Ethnicity and Culture; Treatment Modification; African American Youth Development; Racial Discrimination and Racial Socialization; Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy; Interpersonal and Racial Trauma; Anxiety, Depression, and PTSD.
Bio
Isha Metzger is a first-generation American from Atlanta by way of Sierra Leone. She is a licensed clinical psychologist, founder and director of The EMPOWER Lab, owner of Cultural Concepts, LLC, certified therapist in Trauma-Focused Cognitive-Behavior Therapy (TF-CBT) and the mental health expert for Salone Health — an organization dedicated to improving the health of Sierra Leoneans at home and abroad. Metzger's research aims to improve evidence-based, cognitive-behavioral treatments through understanding risk factors (e.g., racial discrimination) and resilience factors (racial socialization) that affect Black youth. Her research is also aimed at preventing engagement in risky behaviors (e.g., sexual activity, alcohol use, delinquency), emotional problems (e.g., anxiety, depression, PTSD, racial trauma) and problematic outcomes (e.g., STI/HIV exposure, unintended pregnancies) that result from stressful experiences. She is also engaged in translational research including the conceptualization, implementation, dissemination and evaluation of prevention programming aimed at reducing mental health and health disparities among African American youth.