diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 957d3a5..11714b0 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -4,6 +4,17 @@
 
 [Unreleased]: https://github.com/chaostoolkit/chaostoolkit-prometheus/compare/0.6.0...HEAD
 
+### Added
+
+- Add new `verify_tls` flag for the control to disable/enable the verification of TLS certificates
+
+### Changed
+
+- Implemented a custom handler for the prometheus `push_to_gateway` function that uses `requests`.
+  This enables features like the use of HTTP proxies.
+- Allow setting of `experiment_ref`, `trace_id`, `pushgateway_url` and `verify_tls` through a
+  `configuration` block. Direct configuration through arguments is still possible.
+
 ## [0.6.0][] - 2023-09-19
 
 [0.6.0]: https://github.com/chaostoolkit/chaostoolkit-prometheus/compare/0.5.0...0.6.0
diff --git a/chaosprometheus/metrics.py b/chaosprometheus/metrics.py
index f099bad..6de7f0d 100644
--- a/chaosprometheus/metrics.py
+++ b/chaosprometheus/metrics.py
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 from secrets import token_hex
-from typing import Dict, List
+from typing import Any, Callable, Dict, List
 
 from chaoslib import __version__, experiment_hash
-from chaoslib.types import Experiment, Journal
+from chaoslib.types import Configuration, Experiment, Journal
 from prometheus_client import (
     CollectorRegistry,
     Counter,
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
     Histogram,
     push_to_gateway,
 )
+from requests import Session
 
 __all__ = ["configure_control", "after_experiment_control"]
 
@@ -19,12 +20,14 @@
 
 
 def configure_control(
-    experiment: Experiment,
+    configuration: Configuration = None,
+    experiment: Experiment = None,
     pushgateway_url: str = "http://localhost:9091",
     job: str = "chaostoolkit",
     grouping_key: Dict[str, str] = None,
     trace_id: str = None,
     experiment_ref: str = None,
+    verify_tls: str = None,
     **kwargs
 ):
     """
@@ -47,8 +50,24 @@ def configure_control(
     provided, it'll be set to a random string as a label.
     """
     global collector
+
+    pushgateway_url = pushgateway_url or configuration.get(
+        "pushgateway_url", "http://localhost:9091"
+    )
+    experiment_ref = experiment_ref or configuration.get("experiment_ref")
+    trace_id = trace_id or configuration.get("trace_id")
+    verify_tls = verify_tls or configuration.get("verify_tls")
+    if not verify_tls:
+        verify_tls = "true"
+
     collector = PrometheusCollector(
-        pushgateway_url, job, trace_id, experiment_ref, grouping_key, experiment
+        pushgateway_url,
+        job,
+        trace_id,
+        experiment_ref,
+        grouping_key,
+        experiment,
+        verify_tls,
     )
 
 
@@ -74,6 +93,8 @@ def after_experiment_control(state: Journal, *args, **kwargs) -> None:
 # Private functions
 ###############################################################################
 class PrometheusCollector:
+    verify_tls = True
+
     def __init__(
         self,
         pushgateway_url: str,
@@ -82,6 +103,7 @@ def __init__(
         experiment_ref: str,
         grouping_key: Dict[str, str],
         experiment: Experiment,
+        verify_tls: str,
     ) -> None:
         self.pushgateway_url = pushgateway_url
         self.job = job
@@ -90,6 +112,7 @@ def __init__(
         self.grouping_key = grouping_key or {
             "chaostoolkit_experiment_ref": self.experiment_ref
         }
+        PrometheusCollector.verify_tls = verify_tls.upper() == "TRUE"
 
         labels = [
             "source",
@@ -160,4 +183,27 @@ def push(self) -> None:
             job=self.job,
             registry=self.registry,
             grouping_key=self.grouping_key,
+            handler=_custom_handler,
         )
+
+
+def _custom_handler(
+    url: str,
+    method: str,
+    timeout: int,
+    headers: list,
+    data: Any,
+) -> Callable:
+    """
+    Bare bones custom handler for pushing metrics to enable more complex
+    scenarios. This function is fed into push_to_gateway()
+    We also use requests to benefit from its feature set like e.g. proxy support
+    """
+
+    def handler() -> None:
+        s = Session()
+        s.verify = PrometheusCollector.verify_tls
+        h = {k: v for k, v in headers}
+        s.request(url=url, method=method, headers=h, data=data, timeout=timeout)
+
+    return handler