Professionals At Work Serving – François Roy: How networking on the local level leads the way for this resident Psychologist

By Alex Goebel, Public Relations Practitioner

François Roy has been a registered psychologist in Alberta for over 33 years. He is a trauma and addiction specialist, self-regulation therapist, and certified bioenergetic therapist.

Through his private practice, François has assisted several individuals, couples, and families move through some of life’s most challenging crises situations, such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).  He guided people on implementing the tools he shared with them and supportively helped them to move forward as they took the initial steps to re-building meaningful and productive lives.

François is often called upon during an emergency to facilitate trauma debriefings for workplace-related fatalities and injuries, conflict and restructuring management, and natural disasters, such as the recent COVID-19 Pandemic.

As a member of Health Canada’s Psycho-Social Emergency Response Team, François was deployed to Cornwall, ON, to lead the psycho-social emergency response team of the Diamond Princess cruise ship in the early days of illness when it was primarily spread by travel.

François reflects on the workers’ needs and how it often goes unnoticed the amount of abuse front-line workers face. He calls his technique Psychological first aid – quickly assessing the needs of the disaster and what treatment best meets those needs. Sometimes it can be as simple as letting your patient know you are there, trying to help.

François on Self-Promotion

Now, back at home in Edmonton, Alberta, François faces a new realm – self-promotion in an increasingly socially distant world. He has always done his marketing. But in a domain in which social contact is limited, François must find a way to connect with clients.  He proudly shares,

“Word of mouth is how I get most of my clients.”

As François explains, COVID offers an equal amount of opportunity as well as difficulty. Working with his sister and being exposed to a short video she had made for Instagram, François began to realize that he can pursue the accessibility of the online realm. With some experience in social media, François has been investigating avenues to learn more. He is upgrading and complementing his skills with Facebook marketing as he plans to reach more people in need of his help. François believes it’s all about balance,

 “It has to be JUST right! You can’t overstate your needs or undersell yourself.”

To learn more about François Roy, visit our website under the PAWS Hub:  https://pouncesupportservices.com/the-paws-hub-2/.