Meet Rachel Taylor

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Rachel Taylor. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Rachel below.

Rachel, so great to have you with us and we want to jump right into a really important question. In recent years, it’s become so clear that we’re living through a time where so many folks are lacking self-confidence and self-esteem. So, we’d love to hear about your journey and how you developed your self-confidence and self-esteem.

My journey with self-esteem and confidence has been deeply intertwined with my connection to myself and my experiences. Growing up in a small, affluent town with parents who owned their own businesses, I observed their successes and challenges. However, my sense of self was profoundly impacted when my parents divorced during high school. This event shattered my ideal image of a perfect family and intensified my struggle with self-worth.

During this turbulent time, I grappled with feelings of inadequacy and sought solace in friendships and distractions. It wasn’t until I began to voice my struggles that I found a sense of community and stability, which helped me navigate the rest of high school.

College brought new challenges, including a traumatic event—the death of my boyfriend at the time, who had also struggled with his sense of self. This tragedy brought me to a breaking point, forcing me to confront my own sense of self-worth and vulnerability. It was through this deep struggle that I discovered true peace, not in the conventional sense of happiness, but in the ability to fully acknowledge and accept my authentic self.

Self-esteem and confidence, for me, are not about navigating life without difficulty but about embracing and owning our vulnerabilities and finding the strength to meet our needs amidst hardships.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I own a mental health private practice in the Denver Metro area called Taylored Perspectives. We offer individual therapy, workplace mental health training, and supervision services.

My focus is on a comprehensive approach to wellness, integrating case management, peer support, and wellness coaching into our services. I have used my experience in community mental health to adapt this approach to a private practice format. Before starting my practice, I gained diverse experience working with various clients and systems in settings such as schools, homes, community mental health, and integrate care environments.

I’m committed to making mental health care as accessible and effective as physical health care. My aim is to reduce barriers to services and expand access to holistic, whole-body wellness support.

In our training program, I focus on providing educational opportunities, licensure supervision, and interdisciplinary care for new clinicians. Having been a master’s student myself, I value fair access to education and continuously pursue advanced training to better support emerging therapists.

Taylored Perspectives also extends its impact beyond the therapy room with workplace training that addresses burnout, vicarious trauma, and client relations. We offer ongoing support to help integrate these skills into daily practice.

What excites me most is enhancing training for new therapists, providing comprehensive client support, and raising community awareness through our workplace programs. My goal is to promote a holistic approach to mental health and contribute positively to both individual and community well-being.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Throughout my journey, three qualities have been particularly impactful: self-awareness, curiosity, and spontaneity.

Self-Awareness: Confronting painful and sometimes unbearable aspects of myself has been crucial. I remember hearing, “If you live a life aligned with your values, that is where you find peace.” As a child, this saying didn’t resonate much, but it stayed with me. When I began to explore what truly mattered to me on a deep, intrapsychic level, I found a profound sense of self. Understanding my values has been foundational in managing anxiety, depression, and residual symptoms of trauma.

Curiosity: Growing up in a heteronormative environment where binary categories were the norm, uncertainty often felt overwhelming. Embracing curiosity—rather than sticking to assumptions—has been transformative. It allowed me to observe my experiences and connect with others in a more open and understanding way.

Spontaneity: Childhood often involves rigid rules and limited opportunities for creativity and spontaneity. Embracing spontaneity has helped me reconnect with my unconscious self and live more fully in the moment. Letting go of past constraints and societal expectations has allowed me to experience life more authentically.

For those early in their journey, I advise focusing on developing self-awareness through deep reflection on your values, nurturing curiosity by exploring beyond assumptions, and embracing spontaneity to reconnect with your inner self. Even if it’s only for a few minutes, finding a sense of peace is worth it because those moments are truly priceless.

What has been your biggest area of growth or improvement in the past 12 months?

Over the past 12 months, my biggest area of growth has been navigating the challenges of opening my own practice within a broken mental health system. Identifying a single ‘biggest’ challenge is tough, but reflecting on the barriers I’ve faced, it’s clear that balancing the role of clinician with the demands of managing a new business has been a significant learning experience.

As a clinician opening a practice aimed at supporting others through life’s complexities, I’ve encountered numerous obstacles. Beyond the logistical and operational aspects of starting a business, I’ve had to confront the realities of a system that often feels flawed and inadequate. This has pushed me to rely more on my humanity and empathy than on my technical skills alone.

The growing cost of living and stagnant wages present additional challenges that extend beyond what graduate school prepared me for. I’ve learned that success in therapy isn’t about solving every problem but about helping individuals navigate their challenges. This realization has shifted my focus from purely intellectual achievements to recognizing and addressing the human aspects of our work. My growth has involved embracing my human side and understanding that therapy is less about fixing problems and more about learning to navigate them effectively.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://tayloredperspectives.squarespace.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taylored_perspectives_pllc/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachel-taylor-lcsw-emdr-1a6063166?trk=public_post_feed-actor-name
• Other: Psychology Today: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/rachel-taylor-boulder-co/1237668

Image Credits

Stephane Comasse Photography