HARROGATE PSYCHOLOGICAL SERVICES
Hello! Welcome to Harrogate Psychological Services. My name is Franki Harrogate, and I am a Registered Provisional Psychologist with a general private practice in Edmonton, Alberta. The foundation of my therapeutic approach is feminist and multicultural, with an intersectional perspective. I work with adult clients of any body type, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, race, and relationship framework. I am kink positive, sex work positive, and a harm reduction advocate.
All sessions are conducted virtually or by phone due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Making the decision to reach out for support is a great first step. Finding a therapist that "clicks" is also important. Please visit my resources page for more information on finding the best therapist for you. If you are looking for specific information (such as session length and fees), please click on one of the following:
My framework in a nutshell:
1) You are the expert on your experiences, and it's not my job to "fix" you.
You're not broken! I focus on supporting people where they're at, rather than asking someone to conform to mainstream ideas of wellness. The only person who can know what is and isn't working for you is you, and we will work together to co-create a healing space for you. Further, as someone diagnosed with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) as an adult, I have a particular interest in how trauma symptoms and coping strategies can sometimes overlap with executive dysfunction.
I also practice harm reduction. In my experience, folks self-medicate to deal with unmet needs, and self-medication can take many different forms. Some people use substances, some people use paid work or volunteering. It is never my job to shame, dismiss or minimize anyone's coping strategies. I see my role as assisting clients through the process of finding or creating more sustainable, long-term support strategies.
2) Our experiences are impacted by the systems in which we live: nothing we experience happens in a vacuum.
The world we live in and its systems (social, political, environmental, family, etc.) impact each of us in different ways. I do NOT ever tell anyone, especially those targeted by oppressive systems, to "think happy thoughts, turn that frown upside-down" or "go do some self-care." Oppression is real, and naming our experiences for what they are can be healing in and of itself.
"There is no such thing as a single-issue struggle, because we do not live single-issue lives." ~Audre Lorde
3) I actively interrogate my whiteness, my internalization of white supremacist capitalist patriarchal frameworks, and my positionality in both therapeutic and personal spaces.
I work to dismantle white supremacist capitalist patriarchy both as part of my practice and my way of being in the world. This includes reckoning with and divesting from the social contract of whiteness by troubling the status quo in the spaces accessible to me. I am a non-binary queer, fat, neurodivergent, Scottish- & English-descended person who practices anti-oppressive counselling psychology. I reside and work on the ancestral, traditional, and contemporary gathering grounds, meeting places, and travelling routes for the peoples of this area, known as Amiskwacîwâskahikan. I recognize that I am on stolen land and commit to Land Back, with all of the complexities and discussions entailed by that concept. I also commit to defending water rights for all: Water Is Life.
I extend my gratitude to the many Indigenous peoples who have rich histories and ongoing connections here. Amiskwacîwâskahikan encompasses the lands of at least 17 different Indigenous nations (including the Tsuut'ina, Nêhiyaw, Siksikáwa, îyârhe Nakodabi, Dene, Denesoline, Tlicho, Gwich’in, Nakoda Oyadebi, and Anishinaabeg), as well the Métis Nation. I thank them for their ongoing stewardship of the lands and waters that sustain all life. I commit to recognizing, supporting, and advocating for the sovereignty of all Indigenous Nations, not only here but worldwide. By offering this land acknowledgement, I affirm Indigenous sovereignty and commit to holding myself and my communities (including institutions, organizations, and disciplines) accountable for our actions, acting against ongoing colonization and injustice, and honouring my specific responsibilities under treaty.
“Everyone is familiar with the slogan "The personal is political" -- not only that what we experience on a personal level has profound political implications, but that ... What we often assume belongs most intimately to ourselves and to our emotional life has been produced elsewhere and has been recruited to do the work of racism and repression.”
― Angela Y. Davis (2016), Freedom Is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement
