About Kristina & Heather
It Began with Two Stories of Transformation
During my early childhood, my parents were involved in a satanic cult. My father, having been born himself into the cult, was dependent on his father to make a living, which left us all victims to the power of the cult leaders. The year that I turned four was when we finally escaped the terror. This was after a brutal attack and rape that my older sister and I endured. Eventually, we moved two-and-a-half hours away, and my memories of the cult activity faded, but new experiences of abuse filled the spaces. I was now seven, and my mother who had up to that time sexually abused me finally made the choice to stop. She rarely touched me again after the abuse, not to brush my hair, tuck me in, or hold me when I was scared. The neglect now became the most pervasive abuse throughout the rest of my childhood. This was also the age that my Sunday school teacher began to come by the apartment. With my mother both physically and emotionally absent, he had full access to me and my sisters. What started out as molestation, eventually ended in rape.
Through the 20 years of trying to heal from the complex trauma, abuse and neglect, I gathered along the way what I felt worked and what did not work to support my healing process. I distilled what I discovered were the essential key pieces to my deep healing and the reclaiming of the wholeness of my most authentic Self. I also reflected on how the traditional systems had failed me, and I continually searched for what would ultimately free me from the pain and suffering of my past. Writing this book was a soul offering in hopes to give back to others who are needing hope and a sense that they are not alone as they work the difficult layers of healing past wounds and in coming back home to who they truly are.
After completing a PhD in clinical psychology and Masters degree in theology, I became a successful psychologist in the Los Angeles area and focused my work on helping clients with a history of trauma. After working as a therapist for sixteen years, I became increasingly discontent with the limitations of traditional therapy despite ongoing years of further training. I felt as if there must be more or other ways of healing that would support my clients with complex trauma to heal at deeper levels — emotionally, physically, mentally, and spiritually.
About this time in my life, I also had a profound mystical experience in which I inwardly heard a voice telling me that if I did not leave my life as I knew it, I would die. Acting in faith, I listened to this inner knowing and despite my angst and feelings of uncertainty, I dismantled my practice, sold my home, and moved across the country. I felt as if I had walked off a cliff into an abyss. This transition led me into a “wilderness” experience in which my sense of identity as I had known it was stripped away. I went through periods of anxiety, confusion, and depression. During the next seven years, I deepened my own inner work and also explored healing from other perspectives. I studied with indigenous healers and shamans from all over the world. I learned about herbalism, shamanism, and energy healing. I studied ancient wisdom traditions such as astrology, Earth-based spirituality, and the understanding of the Sacred Feminine. I learned about different spiritual approaches and about the power of sacred circles for healing. I came to realize that there are many paths to spirituality, healing, and wholeness.
As I began to emerge from this time of inner and outer exploration, I created a holistic healing center that allowed me to integrate and practice in a new way. I developed and facilitated sacred healing circles for women in which we used mythology, ceremony, and shamanic practices to support each other in healing individually and together. I incorporated shamanic and energy healing practices in my therapy work. I also started doing psychological and spiritual astrology readings that provided guidance about the soul’s purpose, the meaning of the themes in our lives, and the aspects of the self. This is the integrative healing work that I continue to do.