Francis Higgins

I am a queer, trans, disabled, neurodivergent therapist based near Edinburgh. I offer online and telephone person-centred therapy (otherwise known as counselling & psychotherapy) and supervision informed by anti-oppressive practices such as the neurodiversity paradigm, intersectional feminism and disability justice. My work is relational and trauma-informed. Through the relational qualities of person-centred therapy (empathy, genuineness and positive regard) I aim to create a safe gentle space for you to explore difficult experiences. This can be more effective in getting to the deeper issues than a more confrontational approach especially for sensitive people and those with interpersonal trauma. Many people need a high degree of relational safety in order to work on vulnerable issues. I don’t subscribe to the ‘blank slate’ approach to therapy, I show up as a genuine person (with appropriate professional boundaries) and sometimes share my own experience, where that might be helpful to you. Many of the things I support people with I also have lived experience of including autism/ADHD and other neurodivergent traits, late diagnosis, burnout, trans and non-binary identity, disability/chronic health conditions and suicide bereavement. Long before discovering my neurodivergence or queerness I felt different, and I came to appreciate the freedom, creativity and diversity that comes from embracing this difference rather than trying to comform. I have a strong sense of justice. As well as a therapist I have been an activist, community organiser, mediator, artist and support worker.