Dr. James Ruby, LMHC

Dr. James Ruby is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) who draws on more than two decades of practice to help people facing depression, anxiety, relationship strains, and life transitions. He speaks plainly and works to make therapy understandable and useful for everyday life. He practices in Hawaii and offers care in English. He takes a practical, person-centered approach. He helps people notice patterns learned long ago that no longer work and then choose different responses. Sessions often include talking through current problems, looking at feelings and beliefs, and trying small experiments between meetings to test new ways of coping. Dr. Ruby uses a mix of approaches to meet the needs of each person. He leans on client-centered listening to make people feel heard, encourages action toward valued goals with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and explores deeper life themes with existential and psychodynamic ideas when that fits. Motivational Interviewing is used when people want help making a change, such as reducing addictive behaviors or improving self-care. He is comfortable addressing a wide range of concerns such as grief, caregiving stress, parenting challenges, workplace pressure, intimacy and communication problems, and issues related to identity and self-esteem. He also supports people dealing with trauma, compassion fatigue, and the complexities of separation or divorce. Dr. Ruby invites questions and a collaborative start. He asks people to complete brief steps to match with him and then schedule according to availability. His aim is to help people find manageable steps toward the life they want.