James Rusk

James Rusk is a licensed clinical social worker practicing in West Virginia with 17 years of clinical experience. He primarily practices from a Narrative therapy perspective and draws on principles from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to guide his work.

James views one central life task as making meaning from experience, whether those experiences are judged good or bad. He believes the stories people tell themselves about their past and future shape how they feel about their life path, while the capacity to be present with current circumstances strongly influences feelings of competence and well-being.

He often sees unnecessary suffering arise when people struggle against their own experience. For James, the first step toward meaningful change is a willingness to consider that change is possible. Even when a person is unsure about that willingness, he believes it is possible to work together to create conditions that foster openness to change.

In therapy he approaches the relationship as a partnership - the client remains the expert on their own life, and James applies Narrative, psychodynamic, and ACT-informed perspectives to offer new lenses on a situation. He emphasizes respect and compassion without promoting an agenda of “shoulds,” and he welcomes people who are ready to explore their inner life, even when that exploration feels anxious.