Today we’d like to introduce you to Katrina Dorow
Hi Katrina, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
In 2003, after participating in and facilitating numerous self improvement seminars and workshops, I started going into prisons to facilitate experiential anger management techniques. I quickly learned how to facilitate transformation to empower inmates to move beyond their traumas. Although this is not a traditional introduction to coaching, seeing their personal growth was truly rewarding and it reinforced and intensified my passion for coaching.
I was inspired to attend multiple coaching programs where I learned many phenomenal methods and enhanced my coaching skills. I began coaching 20 years ago and realized how valuable the process can be to assist others to release their stories and beliefs that are not working for them. I became aware that by allowing clients to discover insights into themselves, the opportunity for true personal growth occurred.
In 2007, I started my training with Cathy Hawk from Clarity® International. Cathy Hawk is a model example of using our “personal field” to live “lights-on” with clarity and positive thinking. The Clarity® Tools designed by Cathy have changed my thoughts, improved my decision making skills, and created the foundation for good in my life. I have become a certified Clarity® Faculty Member and am honored to apply the tools and techniques from Clarity® with my clients.
While continuing to grow as a coach, I became a Professional Spiritual Practitioner, RScP in 2009 through the Centers for Spiritual Living. To complement my Spiritual Practitioner RScP license and coaching, I encountered a magnificent introduction to the Equine Gestalt Coaching Method®. Integrating the Touched by a Horse® tools, created by Melisa Pearce, into my life was truly a gift and blessing. I am proud of myself for becoming an Equine Gestaltist® and am grateful that I can provide this life-changing transformational process to my clients.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
There are situations that arise in our lives that sometimes make it difficult to stay “lights-on” and SHIFT our thoughts, feelings, and state of mind. Some that affected me and those around me include death/loss of a loved one, relationships ending, health challenges, job change, and geographic moves. My career path wasn’t direct or smooth. My journey has been a winding road with unexpected health challenges, moves both domestically and internationally, and many unexpected opportunities to learn through grief.
What’s important to remember is that even though there are struggles along the way, we are a whole person, there are parts of self and life experiences that can deplete our energy and create a “lights-off” situation. How do I address the obstacles and challenges? I start by looking within for my own personal wisdom. If resolution doesn’t surface, I do my research to find an audiobook, article, or a role model or mentor to learn about the obstacles or challenges that I am facing. I have found that having the right mentor or coach is the most effective method for me.
I have had some incredible mentors and received amazing coaching over the last 20 years which has allowed me to continue growing both personally and professionally. I believe that we all hold answers within us. A fabulous coach encourages us to discover the answers that we have within us that may have been blocked or out of our awareness. By looking within rather than receiving advice, we can trust ourselves, authentically resolve challenges, and become aligned with our potential.
When my girls were much younger, I used to make mini tea sandwiches or “finger sandwiches” for our family tea parties. As my girls got older, I began to teach them how to make these sandwiches. At the age of 5, one of my daughters took creative license about the amount of jelly that she was using on the bread. Imagine an excessive amount of jelly smooshing out in each direction. Before I knew it, jelly was all over her hands, her outfit, the plate, the counter, the floor, of course the jelly made its way up to her face and hair. The stickiness was spreading faster than I could clean it up. Before long, all I could see, feel, and think about was sticky jelly everywhere. At the time, my focus was only on all the places I needed to clean up jelly rather than the intention of teaching my child. Before I could fully get her and the kitchen cleaned up, my other daughter had tracked the jelly throughout the house to get to the bathroom to wash her hands. The jelly was everywhere. Take a moment to imagine, what would you do? What would you think, feel, and take from this messy situation? How would you react or respond to having jelly everywhere?
Many of us react based on previous experiences in our lives. Some of us can reach back to our childhood memories on how our caretaker would have responded. Some of us go into a flight, fight or freeze coping strategy that is an automatic response to trauma. Others remain in the executive functioning part of the brain, and they simply clean up the jelly. Others laugh and find the endearing joy of a child learning and the mess is just part of the growing process.
When we apply this situation to building our business, I find that the analogy of the jelly can be what we focus on when an obstacle or challenge arises. The jelly teaches us to reflect on our inner experiences of thinking, feeling, responding or reacting. Clarity® Coaching taught me that I am at choice on how I respond to each and every situation.
If the sticky jelly of a situation goes beyond what I can personally resolve, I seek assistance from a trusted a coach. Coaches can ask questions and create experiences that foster a deeper level of awareness. Coaching empowers us to discover aspects of ourselves that may be outside of our conscious awareness. Coaches allow us to discover ah-ha moments and gain insights from within. Hiring a fabulous coach can help us clean up the jelly that is unfinished business, release the emotions regarding the situation in a healthy way by expressing our truth, move past the ineffective beliefs, and integrate new tools into our lives that support us in becoming our highest potential. A good coach reminds us of our vision, intentions, values, and encourages us to live from an empowered place as we develop our skills.
How did I respond to the jelly incident with my daughter? I smiled. And as I was cleaning up the mess, I asked my daughters quality questions that I learned from Cathy Hawk so they both had the opportunity to learn from the experience without judgement.
I found myself automatically asking the key questions as phased within the Clarity® program, namely,
• What’s different?
• What was effective and/or not effective about making the mini tea sandwiches?
• Check-in with my “personal field” – How are you feeling mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually right now?
• What are you grateful for?
• What is your intention?
My daughters came up with fabulous answers and have both grown into fabulous chefs. The jelly mess ended up being the gift that ignited passion in my daughters to become amazingly confident in the kitchen and continue learning how cook, bake, and artistically present their culinary creations.
As a coach, I create an atmosphere of self-acceptance, self-compassion, and celebration for my clients. We all have areas of our lives that are like the sticky messy jelly that can be transformed into a gift of a lifetime and support us in becoming our highest potential.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Do you ever feel exhausted and pulled in many directions wishing for Clarity instead of feeling stuck and confused?
There are times in my life when I have felt that way due to health challenges, unexpected circumstances, and grief. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have the tools and techniques to get back on a happy and healthy path? Wouldn’t it be a gift to have a coach who creates a safe, confidential, nonjudgmental environment to release ineffective beliefs, patterns, and emotions that are blocking you from receiving your good and achieving your highest potential?
I have learned a variety of techniques that have worked for me and so many others. I have combined what I learned as a Licensed Spiritual Practitioner RScP, Certified Equine Gestaltist®, and Clarity® Faculty Member to create my life’s work and business, Manely Divine.
The intention of Manely Divine is to empower individuals on their journey towards connection and wholeness. The mission is to guide clients in trusting the process of life and embracing the precious gift of the present moment. Together, we cultivate gratitude, empathy, and awareness as essential tools to foster personal growth, resilience, and meaningful connections, ensuring a path towards a more fulfilling and enriched life.
I am dedicated to providing individuals with the chance to connect with their inner wholeness through alignment and spiritual awareness. The process releases burdens and embraces a life in the present moment. Through our collaboration, clients experience personal transformation and alignment, promoting congruence across spiritual, mental, and emotional well-being.
Integrating my Licensed Practitioner RScP, Certified Equine Gestaltist®, and Clarity® Faculty Member training, skills, and methods has been such a positive benefit in assisting myself, my friends, my family and my clients to live a “Lights On Life” as Clarity® International founder, Cathy Hawk, calls it.
As a Licensed Practitioner RScP, Clarity® Faculty Member, and Certified Equine Gestaltist®, I offer virtual Spiritual Practitioner sessions, one-on-one virtual Gestalt coaching, Clarity® groups, Get Clarity™ SHIFT workshops, virtual Gestalt Groups, and in-person Equine Gestalt® sessions.
What individuals and teams can expect from working with Manely Divine
• Create a healthy, vibrant, and fulfilling life by acquiring essential life skills.
• Actively utilize affirmative prayer, meditation, visioning, and other spiritual tools to foster a more rewarding spiritual life, think positively, live abundantly, and love deeply.
• Actively experience and cultivate self-love, self-compassion, and acceptance.
• Receive active trauma support for releasing unresolved emotions from burdens of the past or present.
• Fostering awareness and embodying clarity through intentional practices.
• Embrace the gift of the present moment.
I am most proud of moving from exclusively phone/virtual coaching to offering in-person Equine Gestalt® sessions. Most of my clients continue to meet with me virtually on an ongoing basis with occasional in-person Equine Gestalt® sessions to deepen their personal awareness and embody their wholeness.
What are your plans for the future?
My future plans include living in the present moment, guiding or facilitating others to live in the present moment while sharing my gifts and encourage others to share their gifts. It’s this time of year where many of us reflect on our vision boards, vision statements, manifestation collages, look back/look forward, create goals, and plan for the future. On the winding path of life, my typology or temperament plays a role in my process for creating future plans. I focus on who I want to be and the skills I need to develop to be that person. I ask myself, what do I really want? What values do I have that I want to focus on in the upcoming year? What actions and experiences do I want to experience in the upcoming year? What lights me up, inspires me, and do I feel joyous about creating? What types of connections or community do I want to create for myself this year? What is God’s highest vision for me moving forward?
In all my meditation, contemplation, self-discovery, and reflection time, I record a variety of thoughts, feelings, ideas, and intentions. I trust the process of life that as I focus on my intentions and vision, which remain in alignment with my values, opportunities to achieve those goals naturally begin to unfold. My job is to stay present, grounded, and able to discern which of the opportunities are for my highest and best good.
My goals for this year include continuing to offer virtual Spiritual Practitioner sessions, one-on-one virtual Gestalt coaching, Clarity® groups, Get Clarity™ SHIFT workshops, and virtual Gestalt Groups. The big change to my business this year is to offer in-person Equine Gestalt® sessions.
From ages 8 to 17, I had a beautiful palomino horse named Tiny, who lived at the Flying X Ranch in Wyoming. Tiny was my best friend, my confidant, and my constant companion. As a child, I found peace and comfort in his presence, riding him on countless trail rides, embarking on overnight adventures, and spending endless hours playing together in the pasture. Tiny was strong and tall, his golden coat glistening in the sun, and I felt safe and loved in his presence. It was with Tiny that I first began to feel the healing power of horses.
In 2016, I met my first Equine Gestaltist®, and as trite as this may sound, I knew my life would never be the same again. I watched in awe as the Gestaltist® partnered with her horse in an experiential process that supported greater awareness and healing for the client of the Gestaltist®. It was in that moment that I realized how powerful horses could be in holding the space for humans. Horses have a gift where they can reveal patterns, that on a deep level, we long to change. Horses live in the present moment and have the gift of supporting humans with coming into alignment with their true selves and heal from within by becoming fully present. I felt a deep pull to explore the Gestalt path and eventually became determined to become an Equine Gestaltist® myself.
My passion for horses, combined with my background as a coach and Spiritual Practitioner RScP, made this path feel like the perfect next step. Becoming an Equine Gestaltist® was the ideal way to merge my love for horses with my desire to be in the present moment with others to reveal healing and alignment. I enrolled in the Touched by a Horse® program, and began my training under the expert guidance of Melisa Pearce.
The power of the Equine Gestalt process is transformative. One of my first experiences with a horse during an Equine Gestalt session left me speechless. I was asked to be open and vulnerable, to challenge old beliefs and patterns that were holding me back. As I worked with the horse, I attempted to express a new empowering affirmation. But the words got stuck in my throat. I physically couldn’t claim the new truth I was trying to embrace. It wasn’t until tears began to fall that I felt the release. The horse was right there with me, fully present, honoring the depth of my pain. What felt like a lifetime of hurt was expressed in mere moments, and I felt a shift. Finally, the new affirmation came out, but this time with power, confidence, and clarity.
This process allowed me to experience true alignment. It wasn’t just a mental shift; it was a physical, emotional, and spiritual transformation. I began to understand the importance of living in the present moment from the awareness of wholeness. Our bodies speak to us, and when we listen, we experience greater wholeness.
As I continue to work with horses, I am reminded of the power of connection. Horses teach us how to be present, how to listen, and how to embrace wholeness in our own lives. The lessons they offer are beyond words, and I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to work alongside them, empowering others to discover the same healing and alignment that I have found.
Gestalt is a way of life in which we focus on the experience of the present moment. Gestalt is a German word loosely translated to mean “wholeness.” Fritz Perls, the psychoanalyst who coined the term Gestalt therapy, understood that we could not be truly whole if we did not know the different parts of self and their synergy in our personality. Gestalt therapy often uses experiential techniques, such as role-playing, dialogue, or creative exercises to explore unresolved issues, improve communication, and break through emotional barriers. One of its key principles is that unresolved issues from the past can affect a person’s present experiences, and addressing these issues in the present moment can lead to healing and growth. It helps individuals achieve clarity, integrate conflicting emotions, and become more present in their lives. This approach fosters personal growth by empowering people to recognize patterns in their behavior and how they relate to others and themselves.
During a typical Equine Gestalt session, the client is encouraged to engage in an experiential experiment and/or a present-moment interaction to access deeper layers of their emotions and beliefs. These sessions are particularly effective for issues such as stress, anxiety, trauma, self-esteem, and personal development and help the client to access and express their true emotions and achieve positive change.
Last September, I became a certified Equine Gestaltist® trained by Melisa Pearce from Touched by a Horse®. The Equine Gestalt Coaching Method® honors the unique bond between horses and humans to empower individuals in gaining deeper self-awareness, heal emotional wounds on a cellular level, and achieve personal growth. The focus is on “here and now” experiences and bringing awareness to unconscious patterns and behaviors.
As an Equine Gestaltist®, I empower clients to recognize their limiting beliefs, release emotional blocks, and move towards greater personal alignment, wholeness, and healing. Join Manely Divine in 2025 as Equine Gestalt sessions (one-on-one and small groups) are integrated into already robust coaching approaches that enrich each client to live a more fulfilling life. Manely Divine offers virtual Spiritual Practitioner sessions, one-on-one virtual Gestalt coaching, virtual Gestalt Groups, Clarity® groups, and Get Clarity™ SHIFT workshops.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://KatrinaDorow.com
Image Credits
Katrina Dorow Main, 1 and 8 Photo Credit Jennifer Lord Photo
Katrina Dorow 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 Photo Credit Kim Beer Photography
