Matthew Groff MSW, LSW

Early life experiences within my own childhood, led me to study psychology at Bloomsburg University. Once I began to work professionally, I sought to work with adolescents who were adjudicated within the juvenile justice system.  I was first hired by the Department of Public Welfare to provide counseling to youth ranging from ages twelve to twenty residing within a secure treatment facility.  I soon realized that while I could assist my client’s treatment while they were in the facility, I had a greater need to study and implement family therapy techniques in order to enact a real change.  I soon began providing counseling within a partial hospitalization program for children and adolescents that allowed me to work more closely with the families of my clients.  I utilized various therapeutic techniques that included Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.  My expertise expanded to individual and group therapy.  As I spent time working with youth and adolescents, I soon realized that more therapeutic work was needed for their families.  Over the next six years, I worked as an in-home family therapist for a community mental health service.  During this time I completed the Philadelphia Child and Family Therapy Center three year intensive family therapy training program. The program offered many opportunities to expand my knowledge base of Eco-Systemic Structural Family Therapy (ESFT

I began to work with families who were struggling with high levels of stress and crisis also in addition to my work with individuals who were struggling with depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and chronic suicidal ideation. It was during this time that I completed my master’s degree in social work from Marywood University. Eventually I began working as a clinical supervisor for an agency’s Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) program for individuals with personality disorders and chronic thoughts or attempts of suicide.  I was able to effectively help the agency establish their DBT program before moving on to working with the geriatric population and their families, conducting group and individual interventions who were dealing with a multitude of challenges ranging from depression to grief and loss. I am currently employed as a Clinical Social Worker at a prominent hospital and also provide individual, family, and couples therapy at Courtyard Counseling Center in Selinsgrove, Pa.