Gene has dedicated his life and career to providing quality mental health services to communities and families who’ve encounter challenging times in their lives. As the owner he takes great pride in making sure CAVA strives to ensure the utmost professionalism and excellent care is delivered on a consistent basis. His mentors possessed over 150 years of combined experience which provided him with the clinical expertise needed to care and serve for others. While developing his craft over the past 28 years he has worked in acute care, inpatient psychiatric and chemical dependency units, juvenile residential treatment, community-based wraparound services and has been in private practice since 1997. After receiving his Masters of Social Work from The Ohio State University he made a decision to increase his knowledge and skills in Structural family Therapy by relocating to Charlottesville, Virginia to train under his long time mentor Dr. Steve Greenstein who was a Nationally recognized trainer in Structural Family Therapy and the former Director of Training at the Philadelphia Child Guidance Clinic in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania under the direction of Dr. Salvador Minuchin, M.D., the founder of Structural Family Therapy. Gene continues to train personally as he believes in order to maintain your craft you must continue to learn and grow in order to meet the needs of your clients and staff. He provides clinical supervision on weekly basis and continues to practice therapy while videotaping his work in order to be the best clinician he can.
Gene’s passion is working with adolescents, families and couples. His theoretical orientation and approach is firmly rooted in Structural Family therapy. He also utilizes cognitive behavioral, reality, schema, strategic, and trauma focused therapies to assist clients and families improving their lives. Over the years he has specialized in family therapy, marital/couples, juvenile delinquency, substance abuse, sexually acting out youth, trauma, racial trauma & healing, racial awareness and sensitivity and developmental life transitions.
His commitment to elevating the quality and integrity of the mental health field is evident in his dedication and desire to train and serve clinicians who are willing to gain a deeper understanding of their craft as being helpers and healers. Gene helps them to have a clear theoretical foundation which will ground them and the families they work with in order to foster mutual growth for both client and clinician.
Gene believes our work as clinicians involves courage to accept the responsibility of being with others along their journey and as helpers and healers we become the bridge or fill the void that assists others toward a happier and more fulfilling life.
“Show Up, Pay Attention, Speak the Truth and Don’t Be Tied to Results…..be open to the outcome…..” –Steve Greenstein, Ph.D.
