Meet our Team
Our Founders
Fatima Natascha Lawrence, M.A., RCC-ACS, BCRPT-S
I use she/her pronouns and am a BIPOC first-generation Canadian settler of mixed Asian ancestry, an ADHDer, Queer and have a mobility disability due to a chronic pain neurological condition.
When I started as a clinician, I was stunned and disappointed that many mental health services, organizations, and programs did not meet the needs of neurodivergent clients or those who have experienced complex trauma. I founded FASD Counselling and co-founded The FASD Institute to provide the services I could not find.
Some therapy modalities prescribe interventions that do not consider equity-seeking populations. At the FASD Institute, we believe that counselling should focus on meeting folx where they are and that counsellors should walk alongside clients, honouring intersectionality and empowering lifelong holistic healing.
Natascha is a Registered Clinical Counsellor Supervisor, BC Registered Play Therapist Supervisor, Certified Synergetic Play Therapist , and EMDR Practitioner who works from a somatic, attachment-based, decolonized, neurodiversity-affirming, and anti-oppressive framework.
Kyle Lawrence
I use he/him pronouns.
ha7h sḵwáyel ta newyap Kyle Lawrence kwi en sna. Good day to you all. My name is Kyle Lawrence.
My mother's mother was born in eslhá7an, a Squamish village community located on the shores of North Vancouver.
Growing up, I knew only a small portion of my Skwxwú7mesh lineage and only recently understood the impact of my grandmother's attendance at the Residential School system in North Vancouver. Feelings of loss and not belonging were always present.
I had thought that the Indian Act had succeeded in eradicating my connection to my ancestors and their wisdom. As I learn more about this Intergenerational Trauma and reconnect with my traditional teachings, the drive for recovery resonates with me. I do this to honour my ancestors.
I am the past, present and future; I am Skwxwú7mesh Úxwumixw.
Experts
FASD Expert
Sibling Expert & Helper
Sibling Expert & Helper
Jocelyn
Hello, my name is Jocelyn and I also have FASD. :) Thank you for wanting to learn more about FASD and how to help people.
Sibling Expert & Helper
Sibling Expert & Helper
Sibling Expert & Helper
Administration
Athena Affan (she/her), MSW, RSW
Athena Affan (she/her) is a fat, queer, Black, Afro-Caribbean femme living with gratitude on the unceded and stolen homelands of the
hən̓ q ̓əmin̓ əm ̓ and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh speaking peoples.
For over a decade, she provided crisis and trauma support to women survivors of violence and currently works with PeerNetBC as a community developer and facilitator. She was a founding Director of ARC CommUNITY; an educational enrichment program prioritizing BIPOC learners, educators and experiences, and is the current chair of Burnaby Pride. She is a neurodivergent parent to two wonderful ND kiddos and is working towards her MSW at the University of Calgary.
She enjoys Queer culture, science fiction and fantasy, listening to audiobooks and dreaming about collective liberation.
Associates
Athena Affan (she/her), MSW, RSW
Athena Affan (she/her) is a fat, queer, Black, Afro-Caribbean femme living with gratitude on the unceded and stolen homelands of the
hən̓ q ̓əmin̓ əm ̓ and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh speaking peoples.
For over a decade, she provided crisis and trauma support to women survivors of violence and currently works with PeerNetBC as a community developer and facilitator. She was a founding Director of ARC CommUNITY; an educational enrichment program prioritizing BIPOC learners, educators and experiences, and is the current chair of Burnaby Pride. She is a neurodivergent parent to two wonderful ND kiddos and is working towards her MSW at the University of Calgary.
She enjoys Queer culture, science fiction and fantasy, listening to audiobooks and dreaming about collective liberation.
Anna Lemmo
Brooke Townsend
Mark Francis
Parent Coaching
Jill Crichton (she/her), MA, Parent Coach/ Consultant
Available virtually on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays
I am a mother, sister, aunt, and daughter born and raised in Vancouver.
I have completed two degrees from the University of British Columbia. An undergraduate degree in Linguistics (specializing in language acquisition in children) and a Master of Arts Degree in Special Education.
I have been an infant development consultant for 14 years and a Key Worker for the CDBC Program in the Lower Mainland for 11 years. I have certifications in STAT, a screening tool for Autism in Toddlers and Young Children, Watch, Wait, and Wonder, Group facilitation, and Developmental Parenting. I have developed groups for parents, children, and youth and facilitated trainings for school district personnel, ministry social workers, and foster parents.
I have a passion for working with caregivers of individuals with FASD. I believe in working collaboratively to expand understanding, help navigate systems, develop support systems, and find appropriate resources. Expanded knowledge of FASD and networking with other caregivers are necessary for families to feel supported and build strength and resiliency.
In my work, I have found that “it takes a village to raise children” is especially true. I hope to help families find and develop their village.
Consultant
Courtney Farrow-Lawrence
Courtney Farrow-Lawrence is of Mi’kmaq, African Nova Scotian, and Acadian French ancestry, with roots in what is now known as Nova Scotia on Turtle Island. She currently lives and works on the traditional and unceded territories of the Lhtako Dene Nation in Quesnel, British Columbia.
For over 15 years, Courtney has specialized in FASD advocacy, supports, and training, grounded in an Indigenous, land-based worldview. Her work centres on holistic wellness and acknowledges the impacts of concurrent and colonial trauma, including displacement from land, while upholding the strength and relevance of traditional Indigenous knowledge systems. A core focus of her practice is ensuring that youth have a voice, a strong cultural identity, and trusted advocates within their communities.
Courtney previously spent nine years serving Indigenous community members in the Fraser Valley, British Columbia, as a Legal Advocate with the Native Courtworker and Counselling Association of British Columbia. She also worked for four years at Surrey Place in Toronto, where she supported cultural safety initiatives and upheld Indigenous knowledge within FASD-focused educational and therapeutic programs.
Courtney is the founder of From the Land Translations, an Indigenous-led, socially conscious enterprise that provides FASD advocacy, education, and support through a land-based, neurodiversity-affirming lens. She is also the co-author and co-illustrator of The Gifts You Carry, a children’s book that reflects strengths-based, culturally grounded approaches to identity and belonging. Courtney is deeply grateful to learn from her children and from the youth and families she walks alongside, who continually remind her of our collective responsibility to support the next generation of knowledge keepers.
Please get in touch with me at courtneyflawrence@gmail.com to discuss consultation services.
The Gifts you Carry
The FASD Institute is proud to announce the publication of our book!
All children are sacred and carry gifts. Go on a journey with a grandmother and her grandchild as they discuss the gifts and sacredness of the child as a person with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). Through an Indigenous lens, the strengths and potential solutions to challenges faced by a person with FASD will be explored.