Isha W. Metzger, Ph.D.

Dr. Isha W. Metzger is an Assistant Professor of Clinical-Community Psychology at Georgia State University, Adjunct Clinical Psychology Faculty in the Psychology Department at the University of Georgia and Visiting Research Faculty at the Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS’ at Yale University. Dr. Metzger earned her PhD in Clinical-Community Psychology from the University of South Carolina, she completed her pre-doctoral internship at the Medical University of South Carolina, and she received postdoctoral training both at the National Crime Victims Center and at Yale University.

As Director of The EMPOWER Lab, Dr. Metzger focuses on reducing mental health disparities through "Engaging Minorities in Prevention, Outreach, Wellness, Education, & Research.” With funding from the National Institute of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and Department of Justice, Dr. Metzger’s research program is aimed at understanding the role of culturally specific risk (e.g., racial discrimination) and resillience (e.g., racial socialization) factors to better inform cognitive-behavioral outcomes for Black and other ethnically minoritized youth receiving mental health treatment in community-based settings.

Dr. Metzger is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist, Owner of Cultural Concepts Consulting, LLC, and a TF-CBT certified trainer who offers award-winning, evidence-based instruction, supervision, workshops, and consultation to students, professionals, and organizations across the nation to provide mental health treatment for underserved individuals. Most recently, Dr. Metzger was recognized by both the American Psychological Association and the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies for her Innovative Health Disparities Research, Teaching History, and Contributions to University and Professional Service, and she received the 2021 Article of the Year Award for research on healing interpersonal and racial trauma published in Child Maltreatment. Additional research from Dr. Metzger has been published in the Journal of Adolescent Health, Journal of Adolescence, Child Development, Journal of Youth Development, The Behavior Therapist, and the Journal of School Psychology. In addition to her book The C.A.R.E Package for Racial Healing, and a recent chapter in Making Black Lives Matter, Dr. Metzger has translated the results of her research for lay audiences through her social media presence with @TheEMPOWERLab and mass media engagement with outlets such as the Washington Post, Peace of Mind with Taraji P. Henson, and NPR.