Today we’d like to introduce you to Kristin Makena.
Hi Kristin, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers.
I went through a divorce about 15 years ago and during that time Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert had just been released. Although I related to so much of the book (some yet to be discovered), this passage has stuck with me as a guiding light.
“Virginia Woolf wrote, ‘Across the broad continent of a woman’s life falls the shadow of a sword.’ On one side of that sword, she said, there lies convention and tradition and order, where all is correct. But on the other side of that sword, if you’re crazy enough to cross it and choose a life that does not follow convention, “all is confusion.” Nothing follows a regular course. Her argument was that the crossing of the shadow of that sword may bring a more interesting existence to a woman, but you can bet it will be more perilous.” (Gilbert, 2006)
It is only in reflection that I see my own personal transformation was guided through distinct periods of time. Like most people, the first part of my early adulthood I spent cultivating my life through college, career, marriage, home ownership, etc… About this time, I went through my master’s program and started to shift my thinking. One day shortly after we moved back to San Diego, bought our house, and I settled into my new career as an educational psychologist, I realized I wasn’t happy, and it was not the life I wanted. Although I didn’t know what that was, I walked away from convention, and I believe that was the day I started to transform.
During this time, it was an utter struggle. I divorced, lost my home, friends, and strained many family relations. I spent years struggling with depression as I grieved the loss of the “traditional” life and engaged in self-blame. It was these challenging life experiences that gave me the opportunity to struggle and grow, breaking free of forced roles and social norms to move towards an authentic self. I have met some phenomenal people during this time who were guides along the journey. I also became acutely aware of those friends and family members who walked through this journey with me with unconditional love and acceptance.
In this second phase, I have crafted a different life with significant growth in my physical, mental, and now spiritual functioning and education has been a large part of this journey. I have bachelor’s degrees in psychology and sociology, master’s degrees in educational psychology, counseling, and administration. However, the biggest shift truly came through my doctoral program and work with my acupuncturist. Through this time, I found I needed to learn to know and love every part of myself and develop healthier habits through a variety of modalities. My doctoral program specialized in integrated health, and I learned about somatics, movement, nutrition, meditation, coaching, mindfulness, energy medicine, hypnosis, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shamanism, Ayurveda, guided imagery, and the research behind these modalities. I found engaging in these integrated modalities boosted a more balanced, healthy, and content way of living that has transformed my life. We used to joke that we gained the freshman 15 in undergraduate life and lost the 15 pounds of weight and life struggles in our doctoral program.
As I turned 50 last month this third phase of my life is shifting towards supporting others in their journey and a spiritual focus for myself. Growing up I was never a religious nor spiritual person and spent the bulk of my life along the scientific path left brained path of needing to see proof of an existence beyond our human form. I had some significant experiences (many through the pandemic) that really shifted my thinking on life and how letting go of things allows us to see beyond our limited human constructs and egoic needs.
This shift was also influenced by my dissertation development of a substantive theory describing the reflecting process related to change. My interest was to better understand how people move through challenging life experiences to support personal transformation through a humanistic approach. The Theory of Illuminating is a description of how individuals resist or engage in the change process and how reflecting through the process of change and retrospective reflecting move one towards deeper levels of transformation.
Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about Makena Solutions?
I am doing things now that I would never have imagined 15 years ago. Out of college I started as a food and beverage manager with Marriott because there wasn’t much to do with an undergraduate degree in psychology at that time. I then moved into education as a school psychologist and administrator. I have also taught psychology at the undergraduate and graduate levels. I also had the opportunity to be part of the state and national organizations for school psychology and have collaborated with various community non-profits to support healthier functioning in the workplace.
These opportunities have really led to my current business model where I can pull from my own experiences to partner with others as they sculpt their future selves. As I have learned through my own experiences, healthy functioning comes in many forms but includes a spiritual, mental, and physical balance. With my research I continue to examine more effective and efficient ways to help people as they journey through life changes.
My scope of practice as a licensed educational psychologist falls within the educational arena from infant through college students. I conduct diagnostic assessments related to various learning and social/emotional needs. I also support families working within the public school system to ensure children are receiving the necessary interventions for school and life success. From the therapeutic side I utilize a more holistic humanistic psychological approach that views the individual as a whole person working to reach their human potential. This is done through encouraging self-awareness to shift thinking and behaviors with healthier reactions for continued growth.
My areas of specialty include psychology, integrated health, and systems change. I have worked with systems change through Multi-Tiered Systems of Support, Restorative Practices, Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports, Gifted and Talented education, and special education law and ethics. I have developed skills with student who have specific learning disabilities, low incidence and intellectual disabilities, and early childhood, in addition to integrated health practices.
I think my background is quite unique. As I noted I started my career in the corporate arena before moving to the educational side. I think this has been valuable in supporting the growth of my business and helping others as well. Secondly, integrated mental health is a growing field and I was blessed to have been trained by some well-known leaders in the industry.
The best part of my work is to see the success of the clients, especially when I work with families to figure out what is going on with their child and seeing the progress they make. I think too we often work from a deficit-based model which creates suffering. Parents have a lot of pressure these days and there is never a perfect way to parent as each child differs. Parenting is also like anything else we do, it’s a skill that can be developed and sometimes it just takes an outside perspective so shift little things that lead to bigger change.
My main focus is the educational arena. I work with individuals, families, companies, non-profits, and educational systems through consultation, trainings, assessment, and intervention.
What’s next?
For the last 7 years my business has been a part-time practice while maintaining full-time employment in the educational system. However, I have decided to step away from the educational system and take the leap into making my business a full-time experience. I am currently expanding my business into supporting other educators, clients, and training opportunities around integrated health and educational needs. This shift allows me to continue my work with clients in multiple cities in California. I was recently approached by colleagues to help them launch their new LLC. I am honored to be able to use my business background coupled with their expertise to see what we can do for the education and assessment field. We launched the company February 1st, so I am very excited to see where that leads. I also plan to continue my doctoral research related to transformational experiences. On a personal note, I am also working to do more virtual work to allow time for travel and volunteering for pet organizations.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.makenasolutions.net
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/makenasolutions/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100089875462019
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristin-makena-3b4b1493/
