Approach and Services

Dr. Lori Taylor

Registered Psychologist, College of Psychologists of BC (#1079)

In-Depth Psychotherapy

APPROACH & SERVICES

My practice is called In-Depth Psychotherapy, and is managed via the services of Owl Practice (owlpractice.ca) I provide individual psychotherapy to adults in 50-minute sessions via video or phone (weekday, daytime hours).

You may already know what goals you are bringing to therapy, but if you are not clear, I will help you with this process. After a few sessions, I will give you feedback as to how I see the pieces of the puzzle of your life fitting together and suggest what some realistic therapy goals might be. Through collaboration and discussion, we will come to a shared understanding and develop an individualized plan for your therapy. Common goals we might work on could include connecting to feelings without becoming overwhelmed, letting go of habitual beliefs and behaviors that are no longer helpful, and building more pleasant feelings, self-compassion, and assertiveness skills.

I will bring my full attention and calm presence to sessions; provide you with validation, compassion, and warmth; be organized, reliable, and ethical; and offer you honest, direct feedback. I will also encourage you to give me feedback on how sessions are going and whether changes need to be made in our work together. Sharing a few laughs can also help build warmth and comfort. Psychotherapy can provide a “corrective emotional experience,” in which you are responded to in more helpful ways than you were in the past.

My hope is that we can create a strong supportive therapeutic relationship, and that this will also lead to benefits in your relationship with your self and with others.

I believe that finding balance or the middle path can be important, such as with acceptance and change, or with compassion and responsibility. Finding compassion for what we have been through is as crucial as taking responsibility for improving our lives now. Similarly, the path to well-being often involves coming to accept where we and our lives are in this moment, and then exploring to differentiate between what we are truly powerless over and what we are actually able to change.

Related to this, I take an integrative approach to psychotherapy. For example, to help people access and open up their feelings—and to build acceptance and compassion—the therapy models I use include emotion focused, psychodynamic, grief, and trauma-informed approaches.

To help people calm down and manage their feelings—and to take responsibility to change their lives—the models I use include cognitive behavioral (CBT), dialectical behavioral (DBT), acceptance and commitment (ACT), and positive psychology. Similarly, I encourage clients to focus on both symptom reduction or elimination, and on the increased awareness, acceptance, and insight of deeper emotional work.

If you are doing 12-step work, I am happy to help you integrate that with your individual psychotherapy.

Some of the coping skills/tools I can teach you if you wish include journaling, mindfulness meditation, self-compassion, assertiveness, thought challenging and defusion, dream/art analysis, pros/cons table, savoring and scheduling pleasant events, chair work/parts dialogues, & utilizing music or photos in your work. I have also developed a therapy tool called the Layers of the Onion Diagram, which I can share with you if you are interested.

I believe that if we are open and curious, we will discover that even the most confusing or self-destructive behaviors have a positive intention or function at some level. For instance, many symptoms or behaviors arise as attempts to avoid painful feelings, to feel more in control, or to meet unmet needs. When the symptoms themselves get out of control, however, we need to find other ways to take care of ourselves.

In general, I try to teach you what I know so that you ultimately will become your own therapist.