Finn-Lily Heartwood – Counselling Student

What We Do

My name is Finn-Lily, and I combine game design and therapy to help people craft the lives they want.

I also create therapeutic TTRPGs, LARPs, and video games to help reduce social isolation and suicidality for trans youth.

I will be opening my practice in autumn 2024. Please join my waitlists to be notified as soon as we open!

Who We Are

Queerness
Trans* Nonbinary, Bisexual, Polyamorous

Neurodiversity
ADHD, Bipolar, Autistic, Multiple

Life Experience
16 years of turning ideas into reality as a video game producer and designer

Post Traumatic Growth

Causes
Trans Rights, Decolonization, Anti Oppression

It's time to ask yourself the big questions in life:
Who are you, and what do you want?

Uncle Iroh - Avatar

Values & Frameworks

Agency

Your life is yours, you get to be the designer of it.

We combine Person Centered therapy with Game Design principles to help you build your life, on your terms.

We work with your passions, values, beliefs and cultures as sources of strength and empowerment.

Identity

Being grounded in who you are can help you weather the storms of life.

We use Existential Therapy and concepts from Standford's Life Design course to help you discover and define your personal values and identity.

These are the tools we used to develop our own gender identities and navigate trauma recovery.

If you don't know who you are or want to be, this can help a lot.

Empowerment

You're not alone, and you're stronger than you think, even if you can't feel it right now.

We use Internal Family Systems (IFS) / "Parts Work" to honour and work with your inner-selves, following your system's unique way of doing things, and making space for every person or part to have a voice.

Note - As a system, we know that IFS is not the same as Dissociative Disorders or Multiplicity. We adapt this framework to work with altars. We never try to force integration.

Safety & Consent

We use Trauma Informed Practises to create a safe, accepting, nonjudgemental space to talk about difficult topics.

We understand that our current mental health systems are harmful for marginalized communities. This means we prioritize safety plans and community care over institutional systems of oppression.

How We Help

Specializations

Identity Development and Navigating Life Transitions
Trauma Recovery, Suicidal Ideation & Self Injury
Lived-experience based support in these areas:
- Queer (Bisexual, Ace-spectrum, Polyamory, Kink), Trans Non-binary Genderfluidity
- Plurality/Multiplicity, ADHD, Autism, Bipolar
- Trauma recovery: developing boundaries, self compassion, autonomy

Types of Therapy We Use

Person Centered Therapy – More Info
Somatic “Parts work” Therapy / Internal Family Systems – More Info
“Focusing” – More Info
Existential Therapy – More Info
Life Design – Stanford Design Lab – More Info
D&D and Game Therapy – More Info

Education & Training

Education

Diploma of Counselling Therapist from Stenberg College
16 Years of Game Design and Producing LinkedIn

Additional Training

Trauma-informed Practice when Working with Complex PTSD
Felt Sense Polyvagal Model – A Certificate for Treating Trauma and Addiction
Proficiency In Focusing
Comprehensive Internal Family Systems Therapy
Janina Fisher’s Complete Trauma Immersion : Essential Strategies for Working With Trauma, Shame, Suicidality, Self-Harm, Traumatic Attachment & More
Geek Therapy® Certified

Note: All training is untaken through our lens of multiplicity. The latest trauma theories while validating, can still miss the mark in understanding the lived experience of being a system. While we may use some tools from these trainings, we adapt them based on our experience of what seems to be the most helpful for systems, without pathologizing or trying to force final integration.

Let's chat!

For questions or general contact emails us at hello@finnlily.ca