Scott Rutledge, LMFT
My Approach
Why Grief and Loss?
My Approach
What is your approach to supporting clients through loss?
I am here to empathize, walk alongside (not behind or in front of), let the client’s grief unfold at their own pace and most importantly listen, listen and listen more. At the end of the day, if I can witness, validate and reflect a client’s grief the client will feel supported.
Cli
What is your approach to supporting clients through loss?
I am here to empathize, walk alongside (not behind or in front of), let the client’s grief unfold at their own pace and most importantly listen, listen and listen more. At the end of the day, if I can witness, validate and reflect a client’s grief the client will feel supported.
Clinically, I like to follow a basic grief treatment plan and continue to uncover the many roadblocks that may come up as a client continues to experience the ever changing landscape of grief.
How long does a typical client stay in treatment at Eastside Grief and Loss?
Everyone grieves differently. Clients come every week, some come once a month when they are struggling and need an extra hand, others come once and don’t feel like it is a fit or that is all they need. I think a fully integrated and experienced client will take the time needed to explore the many facets of grief. How long really depends on a client’s coping styles, internal/external support system, level of unfinished business, how complicated their grief is, and how much work they want to put in.
Ultimately, it is the relationship between the counselor and the client that creates an environment where change is possible. In order to ensure a positive working relationship, I offer a complimentary 30 minute consultation via phone or in person prior to beginning counseling.
Meeting with a counselor is a delicate process, and my job is to make sure you feel comfortable and safe enough to explore challenging aspects of your life. I believe that taking part in counseling is a big decision that takes courage to engage in. The work of counseling can open up areas of your life and relationships that you may have had trouble seeing before.
In our time together, my goal is to help you identify your own innate strengths. I approach the counseling relationship with a deep respect for your personal history and narrative.
In supporting you as you find your own path, I see my role as one of witnessing, respecting, and reflecting your process.
About Me
Why Grief and Loss?
My Approach
I am a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with over 16 years experience in providing mental health counseling.
I was born and have lived in the Puget Sound area my entire life. While I could always use more sunshine, I still find it a wonderful and beautiful place to live. I am remarried after the death of my first wife 20 years ago
I am a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with over 16 years experience in providing mental health counseling.
I was born and have lived in the Puget Sound area my entire life. While I could always use more sunshine, I still find it a wonderful and beautiful place to live. I am remarried after the death of my first wife 20 years ago and have three children from the two marriages.
My first career path was advertising and marketing (mostly at The Seattle Times) after a degree from Washington State University. A few years after the death of my wife, I was fortunate enough to be able to go to graduate school at Antioch University in Seattle and earn a Masters in Psychology.
I started off in the mental health field in 2009. I was a therapist/case manager for Renton Area Youth Services working with children facing severe and dire living situations. This first exposure and close up look at mental illness, drug/alcohol dependence and homelessness helped shaped my orientation toward grief work. We all need someone to care about us and remind us we are not alone. During this time I also served as a volunteer at Camp Erin, a bereavement camp for kids and teens.
I later moved into opening a private practice in Seattle that largely focused on adults experiencing how to navigate the death of someone in their life. I also become involved in The Healing Center, a grief and loss support group community in Seattle as a grief therapist. Over the last 14 year period I conducted hundreds of intakes with those with a very recent death loss, facilitated hundreds of grief groups ranging from parent support, widow/partner loss, senior partner/widow loss, young adult loss and suicide loss. In addition, I was a key player in facilitating and supervising many grief special events including weekend overnight retreats.
I have learned that we all grieve differently but the need for human connection to be listened to and supported is universal. I I believe integrating my life experience with education and training was instrumental in preparing me to becoming a professional therapist. Throughout every step of my career, I have been honored to witness the incredible resilience children and adults possess when faced with life's most intense challenges.
Why Grief and Loss?
Why Grief and Loss?
Why Grief and Loss?
What brought me to focus only on grief-support counseling?
A number of things brought me to establishing Eastside Grief and Loss Counseling in Issaquah.
I wanted to offer a place that is a non-hospital like setting. The last thing I wanted after my wife died was spending any more time in a medical style building (and working on my grief).
What brought me to focus only on grief-support counseling?
A number of things brought me to establishing Eastside Grief and Loss Counseling in Issaquah.
I wanted to offer a place that is a non-hospital like setting. The last thing I wanted after my wife died was spending any more time in a medical style building (and working on my grief). Hopefully, there is a small feeling of respite when clients come to see me.
Generally, the death of someone we love is a very confusing time. There seems to be a lot of misinformation and lack of information on how to support those who are grieving. I feel it is an important area to help and educate the population on what grievers are needing in a time of distress.
My own wife died from cancer, I have kids who have experienced the death of their parent, I have a 26 year old with Down Syndrome with many challenges and I held my stillborn son knowing I would never get the chance to raise him. Exploring life's challenges and its effects on me was important. I am a therapist who has spent a great deal of time learning how to work with this population. I am very comfortable in the discomfort of others who have experienced loss.
Do I think individual support and group therapy are both important?
Absolutely, professional guidance and the intimacy of one on one therapy with a professional can allow a client to dig deeper, emote more freely and know there is one person there to throw them a life preserver, to help them find their strengths, acknowledge the difficulties and navigate a new lonely, complex world of living without the physical presence of their person. Groups are fantastic for sharing the common load of grief, knowing others are there with a similar experience, people who can listen and not judge but witness and confirm that what each person is going through is not a permanent state of craziness. Bonding and joining with others to form a support system outside of group is important as well. The task of sharing stories or what is going on at that moment in time is an incredible way for each person to normalize and speak without fear about the death of someone they cared deeply about. It is great practice (to reduce anxiety) with a room full of strangers that provides courage for each person to take their narrative and strength back out into their more complex world of friends and families.
How do you think clients see Eastside Grief and Loss? How would they describe the support they get here?
I think at the end of the day they see Eastside Grief and Loss as a freeing and safe place to let everything out that has been building inside. I am more often than not able to help bring people together in grief to share in a commonality. I think clients see and experience it as a place of patience and kindness open to honoring their grief process for however short or long it is.
I enjoy supporting families or individuals from the beginning, the middle or the latter stages of their experience – whenever they decide to reach out for help. My reward is connection and providing emotional safety to express what is going on inside. Change needs to happen to find our way – sometimes major, sometimes minor.
My personal mission as a counselor is to connect with people, bring them out of their isolation, have them discover they are valued and important to someone, to themselves, to the world.