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Usually, counselling attempts to provide options to help you move beyond a current impasse with improved knowledge, more skills, and a better understanding of how you can be an active agent of change in your own life. Counsellors often play the roles of guides, teachers, or coaches; in the process of understanding your concerns, helping to identify your options and encouraging action on your part, to better help you manage and prosper. Being in counselling is hard work. You will be asked to be honest about your feelings and acknowledging your roles and learning the patterns of relating that often are a part of people feeling stuck, frustrated and relatively helpless. You will be asked to take responsibility for learning how to become your best as a problem-solver for yourself and for others.

Counselling usually proceeds with an initial overview assessment of your situation and an exploration of the elements and issues connected with your distress. Your goals for engaging in counselling will be identified and if those are a good fit with our experience and abilities, then we will proceed. If your issues are outside our expertise and usual scope of practice, then we will make an appropriate referral to another therapist.

Our counselling framework is primarily cognitive behavioural and systemic. We humans function best when we can think before we act. Counselling helps sort out the emotions that contribute to personal distress, helps identify the problem-solving options, and encourages action directed at enabling better self-management. Couples and family counselling takes these intra-personal skills and applies them in encouraging honest dialogue, a shared understanding of the problems that have grown in the relationship, and focusing on negotiated change with the goal of significant improvement in the relationship.

We tend toward brief problem-focused therapies. Often, once the initial counselling focus is on its way to resolution or improvement, there is value in an on-going supportive counselling relationship. Sometimes, the therapy needs maintenance and part of Sara Sanjad’s role is to provide support and guidance, at a lower cost to the client – after the main therapy stage. OCD work, in particular, benefits from this particular tag-team approach.

A Registered Psychologist is someone who meets the standards of the BC College of Psychologists (BCPA), by virtue of having the educational training (Ph.D. in a relevant field of study), and who commits to adhere to the code of conduct and standards of practice of the College, and is ‘a member in good standing’. Dr. Taylor’s registration number #1444. A Psychotherapist is someone with appropriate educational training, and has the experience and expertise to work as a therapist. Dr. Lloyd has a Masters of Education degree and a Ph.D. from the University of Alberta, (Department of Educational Psychology, with a specialization in Counselling Psychology). Dr. Lloyd was previously a registered psychiatrist in Alberta for 23 years before moving to BC and starting a business. He subsequently came back to counselling as a supervised Psychotherapist. A Registered Therapeutic Counsellor has completed studies with an accredited college focusing on counsellor training. Sanaa Sanjad is registered with the Association of Cooperative Counselling Therapists of Canada (ACCT #2611). Dr. Taylor is a mentor and supervisor of Sanaa. Sanaa is further enhancing her experience by being a supervised therapist, and or co-therapist with both Drs. Taylor and Lloyd.

An initial assessment/counselling session will help you become clear if you have a good fit with your therapist. At the end of each session, we always discuss this and when further sessions should be scheduled.

Client confidentiality, and trust in both the therapist and the process, is absolutely important. It is our primary value since confidentiality means freedom to talk about what needs to be discussed. All of us subscribe to the Code of Conduct, and Standards of Confidentiality, that apply to all psychologists registered by the British Columbia College of Psychologists. As a Psychotherapist, and a Registered Therapeutic Counsellor, (Dr. Lloyd and Sara Sanjad) we also embrace the same code of conduct and standards of confidentiality that apply to registered psychologists. We used a third-party Practice Management Program for client appointment reminders, scheduling, billing and payments, and issuing receipts. All patient data stored is stored in a regional data centre located in Canada with a high level of security and compliant with applicable privacy laws. We do not sell or distribute personal information to third parties for their own commercial or marketing purposes.

Our fees are usually covered by insurance plans (Employee Assistance, Blue Cross, ICBC, SunLife, etc.). The fees vary depending on the service being provided and who is providing it. Contact us to clarify what your session fee will be. Registered Psychologists are readily covered by insurance plans. Dr. Lloyd is a Psychotherapist supervised by a Registered Psychologist. That supervisor/supervisee relationship enables insurance coverage if you see Dr. Lloyd individually. Registered Therapeutic Counsellors (Sanaa Sanjad, RTC) are covered by some insurance plans – and the rest are covered by virtue of the supervisor/supervisee relationship with Dr. Taylor, Registered Psychologist.

During our initial assessment phase we can easily determine if your concerns are within our scope of practice, experience, and training. If not, then we will let you know and refer you on to another therapist.