Team

Rick has over 30 years of experience in the areas of individual and family therapy, including couples therapy. He specializes in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and has experience dealing with issues related to depression, anxiety disorders, and PTSD. He has been trained in EMDR since 1999.

“As we learn to identify and challenge our ANTS (Automatic Negative Thoughts) and replace them with the truth, we have the tools to transform ourselves and our relationships.”

Rick Jass began counseling in 1989, working with at-risk youth and their families with Family Hope Services/TreeHouse in a suburb of Minneapolis. In November 1995, Rick moved to Wausau, WI, where he began working for an outpatient mental health agency doing individual, marriage, and family therapy.

Rick provides counseling for people from high school age to adult in a variety of areas including depression, anxiety, PTSD, and marriage and family issues. He works with survivors of trauma including loss, childhood trauma, and toxic relationships. He has been trained in EMDR since 1999 and uses this powerful tool to aid people in their healing. Rick has done public speaking in schools, conferences, and preaching in some local churches.

Rick’s passion is brain health. Rick is certified as a Brain Health Coach through Amen Clinics. Rick believes that by addressing all 4 spheres of our lives, which are physical, psychological, social, and spiritual that we can become the best version of ourselves. “As we learn to identify and challenge our ANTS (Automatic Negative Thoughts) and replace them with the truth, we have the tools to transform ourselves and our relationships.

Rick has been married since 1988 and has 2 adult children. He enjoys golfing, traveling and is in leadership at his church.

Patrick has 12 years of licensed counseling experience in Wisconsin and 15 years of counseling experience overall. During this time, Patrick's had the privilege of supporting individuals, couples, and families as they work through life’s challenges and move toward growth and healing. Patrick's background includes public mental health, school settings, and private practice, which has given him a broad perspective on the unique needs clients bring to therapy. Patrick's experience includes addressing anxiety, depression, trauma, ADHD, oppositional and mood disorders, as well as marital and family concerns.

Patrick's counseling style is grounded in compassion, humility, and respect. Patrick believes meaningful change happens when people feel genuinely heard and valued, and he strives to create that environment in every session. Patrick draws on clients’ own experiences and strengths as powerful resources for resilience and healing, tailoring therapy to fit their goals and values.

Faith plays an important role in his life and is woven into his counseling approach—always with care, integrity, and the belief that every person has inherent worth and the capacity to grow. Patrick's goal is to provide a safe, supportive space where clients can explore challenges, build on strengths, and take meaningful steps toward positive change.

If you’re seeking a therapist who offers compassion, respect, and a supportive approach, Patrick would be honored to help you in your process of growth and healing.

Julie has been helping people and families deal with everyday major challenges in their lives. These include dealing with the pain of loss and grief, relationship challenges, and parenting concerns.

She's committed to assisting couples who are struggling with their marriages and helping them find the courage, strength, and approaches needed to rebuild their relationships.

Julie established a partnership with her clients. This enables her to help her clients seek solutions based on their own personal strengths. She helps them identify and use their own untapped resilience and find their own approach to healing that works best for them individually.

Check here for additional information about Julie.

Georgia graduated with an MS in Educational Psychology from UW Milwaukee after working for several years as a teacher and mom. Her experience includes working as a Youth Specialist at Lutheran Social Services in Marinette, Wisconsin. She has also worked as a Parenting Coordinator at the Family Support Center in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin.

She enjoys helping couples navigate through the knots of marriage, and individuals four and older, find their way through depression, anxiety, and trauma. She also helps people come up with strategies that will help them in their lives and situations.

Andy believes his clients are far more resilient than they realize. His work focuses on helping them uncover strengths they already possess, understand the core issues beneath their struggles, and move forward with clarity, confidence, and practical tools. His approach is grounded in the belief that real change happens when clients feel understood, respected, and actively involved in their own growth.

His therapeutic style is strengths-based and integrative, blending elements of CBT, DBT, Internal Family Systems, Solution-Focused Therapy, and Somatic Experiencing. His aim is simple and consistent: to help clients understand themselves more deeply, break unhelpful patterns, and build the life they want, not just the one they feel stuck in.

Andy works with individuals, couples, and families navigating challenges from anxiety, depression, trauma, grief, relationship challenges, addiction, sex addiction, infidelity, PTSD, and major life transitions. He is a trauma-informed therapist and EAGALA-Certified Mental Health Professional, offering Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy and Equine-Assisted Learning as part of his clinical work.

Outside the therapy room, Andy is the author of The Land of And children’s book series, created to help young readers build emotional literacy and navigate complex emotions with confidence, imagination, and compassion.

Lois offers a balance of support and challenge, to assist clients in understanding themselves and their situation, and finding the motivation to make the changes they desire. She has worked in a variety of settings supporting individuals, couples, families and work teams to achieve their goals and improve their functioning. Lois utilizes Family Systems Theory, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Solution-Focused Therapy, Gottman's couples therapy and is trained in EMDR trauma therapy.

Special areas of interest are: *Anxiety *Depression *Couples *Trauma *Disability issues *Conflict resolution *Leadership *Workplace issues *Parenting and family issues

Lois began her career as a Presbyterian Church (USA) pastor, serving as a solo pastor, member of a staff, and later as head of staff. She has experience offering healing and hope to congregations that have trauma in their history.

Since receiving her Master's in Social Work, Lois worked for 10 years providing mental health counseling for individuals, couples, and families, as well as consultation services for teams, through an employee assistance program. While new to Charis Counseling, Lois has a wealth of experience working with people of all ages and a multitude of life circumstances.

Krystal is a client-centered therapist who understands that sadness is not a weakness, but a signal that something deeply matters to you. In therapy, she believes that honoring those feelings can guide individuals toward understanding, growth, and healing. She is dedicated to creating a safe and supportive environment where each person can work toward their unique goals. With over 17 years of experience in both inpatient and outpatient settings, Krystal has had the privilege of partnering with clients throughout their healing journeys.

She is particularly passionate about helping individuals break free from the unhealthy relationships that can develop with food and body in the context of an eating disorder. She also cares deeply about supporting those navigating the impacts of depression, anxiety, and trauma on both mind and body.

Krystal’s therapeutic approach integrates a variety of modalities, primarily including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), and Interpersonal Therapy (IPT). Additionally, she incorporates a Christ-centered approach when desired, supporting clients who want their spiritual beliefs to be part of the healing process. She is committed to creating a space where clients feel heard, seen, and supported as they move toward healing, personal growth, and a deeper understanding of what truly matters to them.

Amanda is a compassionate and experienced therapist specializing in individual, family, and couples therapy. She loves working with children of all ages, helping them navigate emotions, behavioral challenges, and family dynamics. She also has a special focus on women’s issues, including perinatal mental health, supporting women through pregnancy, postpartum transitions, and motherhood.

With expertise in a wide array of mental health concerns, including depression, anxiety, and more, she helps clients navigate life’s challenges and transitions. Using a client-centered and evidence-based approach, Amanda creates a safe and supportive environment where individuals and families can heal, grow, and build healthier relationships.

Bethany is focused on using client-centered and strengths-based approaches to counseling that focus on an individual's strengths. She recognizes that within each person lies inherent value, which calls for a non-cookie-cutter approach while arriving at a solution.

She has experience working with individuals struggling to cope with anxiety, depression, trauma, and relationship issues. Her passion lies in helping teens and adults find a healthy way to thrive, cope with emotions, build boundaries, and develop a sense of self-worth.

She hopes to foster an environment that is peaceful and genuine, which allows her to establish meaningful, caring connections with each client. Through this, she hopes to help them feel secure and safe and gain the healing and grace they need.

Bethany has experience using various therapy approaches and is a certified trauma EMDR clinician. She is trained in CBT counseling, mindfulness, and Solution-Focused Therapy. She can see individuals aged 12 and up.

Lisa considers it a great privilege to be a part of the process of change and healing. She has strength, depth and patience to face the hard that all too often makes itself present. She takes a supportive, collaborative approach, always seeing the best in each person. She loves to laugh and share joy in the positives of life.

Lisa has over 15 years of various trainings and experience in the field of mental health counseling. She is EMDR and TFCBT trained and uses approaches from these models often to decrease intensity and frequency of unwanted trauma reactions. She also uses polyvagal theory and approaches to teach awareness of the nervous system and help clients grow in their ability to accept and redirect emotional dysregulation. She is strongly grounded in CBT approaches that help clients gain awareness of how beliefs and thinking patterns can be restructured to gain freedom from depreciation and live with more confidence and hope. She uses motivational interviewing to empower clients to make changes that they want to make.

When Lisa sees younger children, she also expects to see an invested caretaker as part of the counseling process. With children and caretakers, she uses behavioral modification approaches to motivate behavioral change and provide structure and consistency, while remaining trauma and attachment theory informed. She works with children and parents to find what is underneath the behaviors, attempting to remove the stigma of “bad” or “problem” and instead focusing on meeting needs and teaching skills. She believes children benefit most when caretakers take joy in them, teach and believe in their abilities to gain steps toward independence and catch them when they metaphorically fall or miss the mark.

Kristen believes in taking a collaborative approach to helping client meet their goals in an environment where they can feel heard and understood.

While she sees a variety of clients, she has a special interest in helping couples rebuild their relationships, and helping engaged couples transition into married life. Other areas of interest include anxiety, depression, conflict resolution, grief and loss, older adults, parenting, and premarital counseling.

Her experiences include Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Solution-Focused Therapy, Christian Counseling, and Gottman’s Couples Therapy. She is a certified marriage mentor, Christian Life Coach, and a certified SYMBIS Facilitator.

Emily uses an integrated, holistic approach to therapy that helps clients identify the root cause of their challenges through a whole-person lens. She believes in establishing a strong collaborative and supportive relationship with her clients and empowers them to embrace the journey of self-discovery at every phase.

Emily has a particular interest in working with trauma and abuse, Anxiety/OCD/phobias, Depression, Grief/Loss, Chronic and Terminal Illnesses, Spiritual Issues, Autism, ADHD, and Career Counseling. She is currently seeing individuals ages 6 to adult.

Emily is a Certified Autism Professional who enjoys supporting autistic individuals in developing stronger social skills, building self-esteem, and enhancing emotional regulation in ways that align with their strengths and needs. In the context of an outpatient mental health clinic, her services are best suited for those without co-occurring behavioral or intellectual challenges requiring specialized intervention.

Charis Counseling LLC

Meet Our Staff

Rick Jass, MA, LPC

Patrick Rohr, MA, LPC

Julie Nelson, MS, LPC

Georgia Wiese, MS, LPC

Andy McGregor, MA LPC, CCTP-II, EAGALA-Certified Mental Health Professional

Lois Swanson, MS, MDiv, LCSW

Krystal A. Holz, MA, LPC

Amanda Schafer MA, LPC

Bethany Jark, MA, LPC

Lisa Harrenstein, MA, LPC

Kristen Johnson, MA, LPC-IT

Emily Weaver MS, LPC

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Charis Counseling LLC

Wausau. WI

Marshfield, WI

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