About Me

Hi, I'm Andrew. I started The Schmidts Institute to offer mental health counseling here in The Hague.

I've been doing this work for over 16 years. I started as a licensed social worker in the US, working with people living with cancer and HIV, sitting with them and their families through some of the hardest things a person goes through. That work taught me more about what people actually need than anything I read in a textbook.

I'm not here to rush through things or hand you a framework to follow. I'll hold space for the hard stuff and I won't flinch when things get difficult. I'm not coming to this from the outside either. I've faced a lot of what my clients bring to a session, and I think that comes through in how I work.

Here's something I actually believe: therapy should be something you look forward to. I want you to get to the end of your week and think "oh good, I have therapy today" and not check your calendar and feel your stomach drop. Not scramble to come up with something worth talking about. Some sessions will be hard and some conversations will sit with you for days. That's real and I won't pretend otherwise. But the space itself should feel good to walk into. We'll get to what matters. We'll do the work. And we'll find a way to make the process worth showing up for, not just the outcome.

You'll be working directly with me. No one else.

I'm an expat too, so I understand what it's like to build a life in a country that isn't yours, in a language that isn't always your own, without your people close by. That's part of why I built this practice. I meet with clients online or in person through Walk & Talk sessions in and around The Hague. If any of this resonates, feel free to reach out.