Meet Liana Taylor

Clinical Psychologist | Mindfulness Expert | International Speaker | Founder

Liana Taylor MPsych, MAPS, FellowCCLP, MPPC, AFAIM, is the Director of Training at AIAM.   She has spent a lifetime seeking ways to cultivate compassion, wisdom, and the joy of life - for herself, and for those she works with and teaches.

Liana founded the Australian Institute of Applied Mindfulness believing that Mindfulness and MBCT are gifts to the world - and she wanted other professionals to have access to these gifts for themselves and for the people they work with. Her many roles include: Director, MBCT and meditation teacher trainer, mentor and inspiring keynote speaker.

I love the heart, depth and beauty that mindfulness-based programs can bring to life. I am passionate about cultivating wisdom and happiness, for all people.

Based in Adelaide, Liana has retreated with, taken teachings from or trained with the Dalai Lama, and the creators of MBCT, MBSR and ACT. With over 20 years experience in both the Clinical Psychology and Buddhist fields she brings the depth of her understanding and its applications in daily life, to her teaching and all that she does. Regularly sought after for speaking engagements, Liana is recognised as the leading teacher of Applied Mindfulness to professionals across Australia. You can read some of Liana's articles. Her passions include her loved ones, teaching meditation, climbing mountains, Argentine tango, playing cello and bringing hope, beauty, clarity of thought and playfulness into the world.

Professional Background

Liana integrates Clinical and Health Psychology, Relationship Counselling and mindfulness. A registered psychologist and Fellow of the Australian Psychological Society (APS), she draws on an extensive background in private practice since 1991 as a Clinical Psychologist, Relationship Therapist and Leadership Coach, Lecturer at Adelaide University, Meditation Teacher with Lifeflow and co-creator of 3 meditation communities including Ashtree sangha. Guided by contemporary evidence-based research, Liana has incorporated mindfulness meditation into clinical, relationship and leadership contexts since 1998.

It never ceases to amaze me the capacity of the human heart to endure, and to seek hope and beauty, clarity and joy.

Mindfulness-Based Teaching

Liana began formally teaching MBCT courses for her clients and has taught or assistant taught with:

• Melanie Fennell, Director of the Oxford Diploma/MSc in Advanced Cognitive Therapy Studies at the Oxford Cognitive Therapy Centre training in Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) started by Mark Williams.

• Melissa Blacker, senior Mindfulness teacher and Director of the Professional Education and Training Programs, including the Teacher Certification Programs in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) at the Center for Mindfulness, University of Massachusetts founded by Jon Kabat-Zinn.

• Maura Kenny, Psychiatrist, Head of Unit, Mood Disorders at the Centre for the Treatment of Anxiety & Depression, specialising in CBT and MBCT in the area of Affective and Anxiety disorders, and one of Australia’s leading researchers in MBCT.

Formal Professional Training

Trained in clinical and health psychology with a CBT focus at Adelaide and Flinders Universities, then later in Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for depression and anxiety, Liana also trained formally in: Couple Therapy at Relationships Australia; Narrative Family Therapy at Dulwich Centre; Group Work at COPE; Neuro-Linguistic Programming with the NLP Centre of SA and Christopher Howard; Outdoor Recreation Leadership at Regency TAFE; and Tai Chi with Master KC Wong.

Mindfulness and Other Meditation Training

Liana has retreated with, taken teachings from or trained with the leading teachers in MBCT, MBSR, ACT and Insight meditation:

• Mark Williams and John Teasdale - creators of MBCT
• Jon Kabat-Zinn - creator of MBSR
• Christina Feldman, Christopher Titmuss and Patrick Kearney - Insight meditation teachers
• Graham Williams - Tibetan Karma Kagyu, and Burmese Vipassana teacher
• Subhana Barzaghi - Insight meditation and Zen teacher
• Steve Hayes – creator of ACT
• Robyn Walser and Kelly Wilson - ACT trainers
• Numerous Buddhist teachers in Australia and Bhutan

Liana was introduced to formal meditation in 1980 with Transcendental meditation. In the early 1990’s she sought meditation training with a greater sophistication of understanding about the workings of the human mind and heart, and began her ongoing formal training in two different Buddhist traditions; the Tibetan Buddhist Karma Kagyu tradition and Burmese Vipassana tradition. Vipassana is commonly known as Insight Meditation and forms the basis of all the Mindfulness-based therapeutic models - MBCT, MBSR, ACT and DBT. This dual training gave her a profound understanding of the importance of concentrative meditations for stilling the mind, cultivating calmness, clarity and hope, and of mindfulness meditation for the insight necessary for transforming health and mental health concerns and relationships.

She started teaching meditation in the late 90’s, and also started incorporating some of Jon Kabat-Zinn’s practices from his seminal book “Full Catastrophe living” (MBSR) into her therapeutic and coaching work. The greater focus of Liana’s therapeutic work was with depression, trauma, illness and relationships issues, while her coaching work was around leadership. In all of these areas the downward spiralling of emotions, negative rumination and worry is prominent and challenging.

When MBCT was developed Liana found it was the perfect vehicle for bringing some difference to these downward spirals of emotions, negative rumination and worry, and combined the rich essence and philosophy of the Eastern meditative traditions with the applied nature of Western Psychology. Liana started reading MBCT literature and research, attending 8 week courses with supervision and then Teacher Development training courses. She continues to attend regular workshops and retreats for ongoing training and supervision in MBCT and in Insight Meditation.