Licensed to practice in Wisconsin and accepts 9 insurances. Specializes in Anxiety, Depression, Parenting and 7 more.
(he/him)
New to Grow
Greetings, I'm Andrew! I help clients discover and develop their most authentic selves and learn to build meaningful, supportive connections with others. With 13 years of therapy experience and 20+ years in mental health, I draw on expertise in brain development, trauma, and relationships to support adults, families, and children in navigating challenges they face. These challenges may present as anxiety, depression, anger, compulsive behaviors, overwhelm, difficulties getting along with others, and parenting struggles. I look forward to meeting you and seeing what power we can discover together in you!
When we first meet, my goal is to help you feel welcome and comfortable. In the intake session, I like to learn as much as I can about you, what is important to you, and what brings you in, so we can start setting some attainable goals and moving toward positive change. I also like to share a bit about myself, the therapy process, and answer any questions you may have.
People say they find my calming, steady presence to be a grounding influence. I do also enjoy infusing fun and humor into therapeutic work, when it's appropriate. I firmly believe in your worth as a human regardless of identity, abilities, accomplishments or struggles and I find something to like about everyone I meet. I accept and meet you where you are and will also challenge you to grow to your potential if you wish me to. My experience starting life in one culture, Romania, and moving into another, United States, as well as having worked for more than 20 years with so many wonderfully diverse families, has afforded me great opportunities to really appreciate the many nuances of the human experience.
My ideal client is a man who feels pressure to be strong and steady, yet struggles with stress, disconnection, and what it means being a man in today’s world—how to show up with confidence, vulnerability, and purpose. He wants to be more present in his relationships, more grounded in himself, and more at peace with his emotions. He’s not looking for quick fixes—he wants real, honest growth. In therapy, I offer a space where he can let go of the masks, explore what’s holding him back, and step into a version of masculinity that feels authentic and whole.
We explore how thinking patterns, emotions and actions all affect each other, and find areas in which we can try out some different ideas. This will usually include identifying unhelpful thought patterns, challenging them, and replacing them with more helpful ideas and self-talk. It also includes exploring how different ways of behaving/using the body, can affect emotions and thoughts.
Learning about emotions, their roles and how these roles can get hijacked by scary or deeply disturbing experiences, is an essential step. Learning how to identify early signs and to temper big emotional reactions is another important piece. While working on these steps, we gradually mention the parts of the difficult experience while focusing on cooling off the emotional reactions together. Eventually, we develop a new version of the story, which focuses on strength, survival, new skills to help cope, and protective factors to help balance out the fear-led reactions. Basically, we take the power away from the traumatic event and give it back to the person.
Being able to feel multiple ways about something or someone is very helpful in the complex life of a human being. I utilize concepts from Dialectical Behavior Therapy that allow clients to hold different perspectives within themselves, allowing them to be more flexible in adapting to life's changes and complex situations it throws at them. This, paired with learning about emotional responses and how to cope and make them feel more manageable, can often be a recipe for marked improvement.
My approach is to treat each person who comes to me, as a whole individual person, whose experience is made up of many aspects of their life: family/friends, work/school, thoughts, emotions, physical health, hobbies, passions. All these pieces interact and can provide opportunities for working with strengths to address needs. I pull from a variety of approaches, depending on the needs of the individual. This will often include sleep hygiene, taking care of physical health, mindfulness, changing thought patterns, building social skills, exploring and supporting clients in finding/making meaning in their lives.
Play is a fantastic way to support children (and adults for that matter) in processing/making sense and change in their lives. Playing is how children learn best. Their brains and bodies are built for this and it allows them to explore ideas, emotions, interpersonal dynamics and skills in a way that feels manageable. They can manipulate and experiment outside of their heads and developing brains, using their bodies. Play helps them stay engaged and exercise control over their world, which children are often not afforded in their day to day life. With this control often comes a felt safety, which opens them up to learning.