According to a birthday book, I was born on the Day of Cultural Assessment. 
​In my 20's, I thought I was growing up to be an education justice policy person. 
But life led me through the racial justice movement to my body,
​​and then to my ancestral lands, ancestors, and Earth-based spirituality.

​When people ask me how I got here, to supporting people with their ancestral reconnection journeys, I have to remember to tell a story beyond my general amazement. But to be honest, that's my first feeling every time I'm asked. Life insistently led me here. Each time I thought I'd created my professional path, life intervened and brought me elsewhere. Over 20 years, I was shown different elements of my soul work, and now I'm here, listening and weaving.

​
​​​Katherine Saviskas, she/her, is a spiritual counselor, coach, educator, and PhD researcher whose work sits at the intersection of psychology, cultural identity, racial justice, and ancestral reconnection. 

​Katherine has more than 20 years of experience in anti-racism education and racial justice work, with a particular interest in how cultural and ancestral identity shapes the ways we understand ourselves and relate to others. She is especially interested in the role of ancestral reconnection in psychological and societal decolonization.

​Her teaching invites participants to explore their own cultural identities, ancestral histories, and relationships to power and privilege as dimensions of both personal and professional development.

Katherine holds a Master’s in East West Psychology and a certificate in Spiritual Counseling from the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS), a coaching certification from Wisdom of the Whole, and a Master’s in Urban Education from Temple University. She is currently pursuing a PhD in East West Psychology at CIIS.

​Katherine creates learning spaces rooted in decolonial values and liberatory pedagogies, where participants can engage their lived experiences and individual curiosities about their ancestral heritages. Her courses and workshops integrate anti-racist education with embodied practices — including breathwork, meditation, and attention to the nervous system — to support reflection, connection, and transformative learning.

Katherine was born and raised in and around New York City. Her ancestors come primarily from Lithuania and France. She lives in Oakland, California, near Lion Creek.

​

​What does connecting with our ancestral cultures and ancestors have to do with anti-racism?
​

Here's an emergent list

​Values grounding my offerings:

​1. Client and student leadership is important. I support my clients and students in stepping into their leadership, honoring their own lived experiences, and trusting themselves.

2. Community is powerful and necessary for health, healing, growing, and living. I help clients and students build and deepen their community through the sessions and groups I facilitate, as well as beyond them.

3. Cultural identity matters. Developing new layers and sometimes shedding layers of our own cultural identities can open doors to our health, healing, happiness, growth, and existential peace. This can support racial justice and dismantling systemic racism.

4. Our bodies matter. Our bodies are involved in all the spiritual, psychological, and ancestral work we do. Our bodies offer helpful clues. Our bodies need our attention and love.

5. Cultivating and nourishing relationships with the land helps. Connecting to the Earth, the land, and the neighborhoods we live in adds meaning and satisfaction to our lives.

6. Learning to show up and be present is essential to feeling alive, growing, and experiencing a satisfying life.

7. Learning to listen to what is wanting to happen in our life and releasing our own agendas helps us feel alive, grow, and experience a satisfying life.

8. It is possible to cultivate an empowered spirituality connected to the Earth that honors our and our ancestors' religious trauma, and that supports decolonization and anti-racism by supporting that which colonization sought and seeks to destroy.

9. I believe the values expressed above can support racial justice, dismantling systemic racism, and societal and psychological decolonization.

10. I believe the values expressed above can support individuals' psychological and spiritual well-being.

Education & Training:

• Spiritual Counseling Certification (2025, California Institute of Integral Studies)
• Master's Degree in East West Psychology (2025, California Institute of Integral Studies)
• Holistic Coaching Certification (2025, Wisdom of the Whole)
• RYT-50 Kriya-based Yoga Advanced Training (2023, Angie Hall)
• Certified Ayurveda Practitioner (2015, Yoga Veda School)
• RYT-200 Yoga Alliance Certified Yoga Teacher (2014, Sattva Yoga Academy)
• Master's Degree in Urban Education (2012, Temple University)
• Undoing Racism Training (2011, People's Institute for Survival and Beyond)
• Whites Confronting Racism Training (2010, Whites Confronting Racism)
• Bachelor's Degree in Education Studies (2006, Brown University)

​
In progress:​

• Inherited Family Trauma Training (2026, Mark Wolynn)
• PhD in East West Psychology (2029, California Institute of Integral Studies)

​

SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE TO RECEIVE
ANCESTRAL 
GUIDANCE EVERY
MONTH