Ko Mākou Moʻolelo​

Who We Are​

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Mākia

Manaʻolana

Kumu Pa’a

The mission of Ka Malu a Waʻahila is to foster a safe, therapeutic space for our kānaka maoli (Native Hawaiian) students, faculty, and staff within the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, born from the acknowledgment of historical and intergenerational trauma, to cultivate healing pathways that elevate the behavioral health of the lāhui.

An abundant, vibrant, and psychologically resilient lāhui

We believe that decolonizing mental health and improving access to culturally safe and responsive services is an act of psychological self-determination and moves us in the direction of collective mauli ola.

  • Mission
  • Vision
  • Purpose

We were born out of the recognition that our Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander haumāna needed and deserved behavioral health support that is culturally relevant and responsive. We believe in the power of knowing your history, acknowledging the impacts of historical and intergenerational trauma on our experiences today, and helping the lāhui thrive, one healthy and resilient haumana at a time.

Ua hoʻokāhua ʻia kēia papahana no ke kākoʻo ʻana i nā Kānaka Hawaiʻi Maoli a me nā ʻŌiwi o ka Moananuiākea i ka paepae ʻana ā paʻa ke kahua mauli ola ma o ka ʻīnana ʻana iho i ke ahi ʻā loa ʻo ka Mauli Kānaka, Mauli ʻŌiwi, Mauli Ola. E kū kānaka i nā ala kuamoʻo o ke au kahiko, e haʻi aku i ko lākou moʻolelo ʻōiwi a e kaʻi ʻia akula ke ala ā hiki aku i hiki ola.

Hoʻopili

engagement, to bring our haumāna and stakeholders together and build community within the university

Hoʻomālamalama

enlightenment, to make the world a better place, to address the unique needs of our haumāna

Hoʻomana

empowerment, to empower our student body to develop their skills and feel confident to handle lifeʻs challenges

Hoʻokāhuli

transformation, to enact systemic change and shift policies to address systemic racism, reduce trauma, and achieve health equity for our haumāna

Principles

Nā Loina

Cultural Safety

Our clinicians value the importance of shifting beyond cultural competency into cultural safety, which necessitates engaging in ongoing self-reflection and awareness to hold ourselves and our systems accountable for addressing biases, attitudes, and assumptions that impact clinical interactions and the therapeutic relationship. Cultural safety also requires us to actively reduce bias and achieve health equity.

Read more about cultural safety. Click here.

Pilinahā:

Our clinicians are grateful for the guidance of the Pilinahā framework, which offers a definition of health and well-being as the following:

  • Connection to place - to have a kinship with ʻaina
  • Connection to community - to love and be loved; to understand and be understood
  • Connection to past and future - to have kuleana (a purpose in the world)
  • Connection to your better self - to find and know yourself

Read more about Pilinaha. Click here.

Trauma-informed Care

Our clinicians practice from a trauma-informed care perspective, which understands that trauma is pervasive, and a component of our shared histories as indigenous peoples. We aim to avoid any practices that may inadvertently re-traumatize and instead seek to promote an environment of healing and empowerment.

Social determinants of health, antiracism, and health equity:

Social determinants of health are the contexts and conditions in the environments in which people live, work, and play that affect their health, well-being and quality of life. Risk factors such as poverty or systemic racism can directly negatively impact an individualʻs and communityʻs health, and are necessary to address in order to achieve health equity (ensuring all people have equal opportunity to live the healthiest life possible). Antiracism, or the process of actively supporting policies that ensure racial equality, is one example of working toward health equity, and is a core tenet of our philosophy.

Meet your clinicians

Eia aʻo nā aʻoaʻo

Mahealani Malepeai, LSW

Lead Clinician

Junior Specialist, Department of Native Hawaiian Health, John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawai’i at Mãnoa. Mahealani was born in Islip, New York raised on both the East Coast and in O’ahu until finally settling in O’ahu in 2002. She is a graduate of Kalani High School, and has her undergraduate and graduate degrees from Hawai’i Pacific University in Social Work. She is currently a Licensed Master Social Worker and is 2 years into completing her Licensed Clinical Social Worker State Certification. Ethnically, she identifies as Samoan and Swedish and finds comfort and inspiration in learning about Hawai’i where she calls home. She feels there is a connection and appreciation for all Pacific Island culture especially here in Hawai’i. She has a passion for helping people and perpetuating cultural practice and land conservation. She has worked in the medical social work field for 14 years in different settings. Now her focus is on assisting Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander students navigate through some of their first independent, exciting, and trying times of their lives. She enjoys spending time with her family and gardening.

Jillian Freitas, PsyD

Program Director

Assistant Professor, Department of Native Hawaiian Health, John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawai’i at Mānoa. Dr. Freitas was born and raised in Mililani, Oʻahu, and graduated from Kamehameha Schools Kapālama. Ethnically, she identifies as the typical plantation mix - Japanese, Portuguese, Belarusian, and Native Hawaiian - and finds comfort and inspiration in learning more about each of her cultural backgrounds. She obtained her undergraduate degree at Chapman University (Orange, CA) and her doctoral degree in clinical psychology, with an emphasis in child and adolescent psychology, at Pacific University (Hillsboro, OR). She returned home to the islands to complete her pre- and post-doctoral training at Waiʻanae Coast Comprehensive Health Center before moving to Maui to develop a behavioral health program within the Native Hawaiian Health Care System at Hui No Ke Ola Pono. Now, Dr. Freitas serves the lāhui through both clinical and academic endeavors–as an integrated primary care psychologist at EmPower Health (Queen's Health Systems) and via curriculum building to support mental health for Native Hawaiian haumāna at UH Mānoa. Dr. Freitas also serves in the JABSOM seat on the statewide Trauma-Informed Care Task Force, and supports diversity, equity, inclusion and anti-racism curriculum for medical students. She is passionate about the intersection of cultural identity and behavioral health, and understanding the backdrop of social and cultural determinants of health and resilience as a pathway for reducing health disparities. She is also a fierce ally and advocate for trans, non-binary, gender diverse and other LGBTQAI youth and families. She enjoys living in a multigenerational home and exploring nature through the eyes of her young daughter. In her moments of self-care, Dr. Freitas can be found decompressing with a yoga practice, running outdoors, devouring fictional novels, tucking away with a quiet craft project, watching British mysteries, and rambling through hiking trails with her ʻohana.

Robin Miyamoto, PsyD

Director of Clinical Services

Assistant Professor and Director of Clinical Services, Department of Native Hawaiian Health, John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawai’i at Mānoa. Dr. Miyamoto is a licensed clinical psychologist who earned her PsyD from Argosy University and completed her clinical training at Tripler Army Medical Center with a specialty in Health Psychology/Behavioral Medicine. For the last 15 years, she has been active in promoting training opportunities in primary care psychology, particularly in rural and underserved communities within the state of Hawai’i. She is a past President of the Hawai’i Psychological Association and a member of Nā Limahana of Lonopūhā Native Hawaiian Health Consortium. She is currently serving the lāhui as an integrated primary care psychologist at an ambulatory clinic (QUMC-Kahala) within the Queen’s Health Systems, and through her practice with University Health Partners Lau Ola Clinic, specializing in supporting patients with diabetes, renal disease, liver disease, and cancer. In her academic work, Dr. Miyamoto oversees all clinical activities of the Department of Native Hawaiian Health, including Lau Ola Clinic, Ka Malu a Wa’ahila, as well as the ongoing medical care to patients in Kalaupapa. In addition to her role as a lecturer and Problem-Based Learning tutor for medical students, she also serves as a consultant for the Geriatric Workforce Enhancement Program and is a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar. In her free time, Dr. Miyamoto enjoys hiking, baking, and spending time with her family and dogs.

Ka Malu a Wa'ahila:

The protection or shelter of Wa'ahila

The moʻolelo of our inoa

Our inoa was gifted to us by Dr. Keawe Kaholokula (Chair, JABSOM, Dept. of Native Hawaiian Health) and Dr. Laiana Wong (Professor, Kawaihuelani), to evoke the image of being under the protective shade of Waʻahila, the mountain ridge that casts a shadow over Mānoa. Waʻahila is also the name of an ua (rain) that can be found in within the ahupuaʻa that connects the main UH Mānoa campus and the John A. Burns School of Medicine in Kakaʻako. As with most Hawaiian names and images, there is of course a kaona, a deeper meaning to unpack. Waʻahila and Kiʻowao were twins whose mother had died in childbirth. When their father later remarried, they were subject to persecution and trauma by their stepmother who persistently sought out the twins for punishment despite their efforts to escape. With the protection of their deceased mother and ancestors, and through their great resilience, they were able to eventually find refuge and cultivate the ʻāina, creating a sense of safety, community and sustainability. It is this concept of resilience that we hope to nurture in Ka Malu a Waʻahila. We are cultivating a space that acknowledges the existence of trauma and seeks to both heal and prevent further suffering, so that our people can flourish.

Mahalo to our incredible partners

ʻAʻohe hana nui ke alu ʻia. (Pukui, ON #142). No task is too big when done together by all.

So many hands and hearts went into the creation and indigenizing of this behavioral health program. This program was made possible by the tireless championing of the Kūaliʻi Council, who recognized the need to provide culturally relevant and grounded services to our Native Hawaiian haumāna. We extend our deepest gratitude to Dr. Keawe Kaholokula, Dr. Robin Miyamoto, Gina Cummings, and Chessa Harris of the John A. Burns School of Medicine, Department of Native Hawaiian Health, for your innovation and for ushering this program into existence. Mahalo to Dean Jerris Hedges for the funding of this program and for prioritizing Native Hawaiian behavioral health. Mahalo to Dr. Willy Kauai of Native Hawaiian Student Services and Dr. Allyson Tanouye of the Counseling and Student Development Center for your openness to sharing manaʻo and space with us to allow this program to come to fruition. Mahalo to Drs. Kaholokula and Laiana Wong for the gifting of our inoa, which guides our purpose and direction. Our providers are ‘Ōlelo Hawai’i learners, not fluent speakers, and have partnered with a cultural advisor to assist in the translation of this website. Mahalo piha to Kaipulaumakaniolono Baker for your translation and compassionate, expert guidance. Mahalo to HealthTechApps for sharing our enthusiasm for creative solutions to meeting students where they’re at, and for co-developing the beautiful MyHealthStory2 app with us. Mahalo to The Marketing Seed for their stewardship of our mission in the creation of this website and our social media presence. And mahalo to the haumāna who have allowed us into their lives, to kākoʻo them along their health journeys to achieve mauli ola. E ola!