James Rusk, LICSW

LICSW (West Virginia) with 17 years of clinical experience, James Rusk helps people manage stress, anxiety, grief, addictions, relationship and intimacy concerns, parenting strain, and mood difficulties including depression and bipolar disorder. He also addresses career pressures, compassion fatigue, self-esteem, LGBT concerns, and major life changes. Sessions focus on practical ways to live differently in the presence of hard feelings rather than promising quick fixes.

James works from narrative ideas and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy principles, along with client-centered and cognitive behavioral techniques. He talks with clients about the stories they tell themselves and how those stories shape their choices. He guides people to notice what matters to them now and to take small steps that align with those values.

In sessions he pays attention to how present moment experience affects behavior. He uses mindfulness skills to help reduce reactivity and to increase clarity about next steps. Cognitive-behavioral tools are used to identify patterns of thinking that contribute to distress and to try out alternative responses.

James frames therapy as a collaboration. He positions the client as the expert on their life and brings clinical perspectives to help reframe problems. Change begins with willingness to try new ways of responding, and he supports clients through that process without prescribing what they should do.

He has worked across agency, private practice, and medical settings over his career. People who prefer straightforward, reflective conversation with concrete practices for everyday life often choose his approach.

Therapeutic approaches for remote sessions