Matthew Bennett, PsyD, Chair, Counseling Psychology Department and Jemma Elliot, MA, LMFT, LPCC, Co-Chair, Counseling Psychology Department

As Chair and Co-Chair of the Counseling Psychology Department at Pacifica, we are often asked, “What makes the MA Counseling Psychology Program at Pacifica unique?” We are hopeful that this letter provides a space to reflect upon that important question.

There are a number of wonderful MA Programs in Counseling Psychology to choose from, and we are proud to count these other programs among our colleagues, collaborating with them in various consortia and in other areas of our professional lives. While all of these programs offer the tools needed for learning clinicians, there are some meaningful ways in which Pacifica’s MA Counseling Psychology Program is unique:

by Rica Toribio, M.A., Ed.D. cand. Senior Director of Enrollment Management at Pacifica

There is no feeling as joyous, expansive, and life changing as the moment you get that call or open that letter welcoming you to the right program at the right graduate school. The Admissions team at Pacifica is dedicated to helping you arrive at that moment, and we feel just as excited as our newly accepted students to be giving that call and writing that letter of acceptance. We are delighted to help you hone your vision by discussing our eight programs traversing the core ideas of the humanities, as well as the mythologies of culture, the collective human imagination, and ecological symbiosis. And of course, depth psychology, which is the founding principle of the school and what sets it apart as a truly unique institution.

"All true things change and only those things that change remain true.” C.G. Jung

People are carefully thinking about educational opportunities during this time of radical uncertainty. They hope to strategically find their way through a world of increasing complexity and rapid, unpredictable change. Grasping the nature, order, and the way of the world has long been a goal sought throughout higher education. Today, however, this question is highly problematized and traditional certitudes of the Academy are hotly contested.

The Community, Liberation, Indigenous, and Eco-Psychologies (CLIE) M.A./Ph.D. specialization at Pacifica brings together scholars who pursue vocations oriented toward social and environmental justice. These efforts are brought together in our annual publication, Hearing Voices. We'd like to introduce you to the work of Katie Robinson, our 2nd year CLIE student, poet, and sexuality educator.

On Queerness As Praxis

By Katie Robinson

If part of decoloniality is about naming what hurts and why, equal part must also be about screaming what feels good and why. Queers raised in a western colonial and neocolonial context, in all
our vibrant multiplicity, have always been good at this, having continually broken from, acted against, and thrived outside of a colonial expectation and construct based in erotophobia. Many of us have decided to live and build community around a full bodied, “yes, this!” in the direction of pleasure as an authentic self and with others. 

by Susan James and Mary Watkins, Co-Chairs CLIE, Pacifica Graduate Institute

Our M.A./Ph.D. specialization in Community, Liberation, Indigenous, and Eco-Psychologies (CLIE) in the department of Depth Psychology is a bold initiative to forge interdisciplinary and transformative approaches to the social justice, cultural, and ecological challenges of our time. We look forward to the completion of your application in the coming weeks so that we might meet with you this year about this unique graduate program. An early completion of your application is helpful if you are applying for financial aid.

Our curriculum in CLIE provides training in several lineages of depth psychology, which are placed in dynamic dialogue with critical community psychology, indigenous, liberation and eco-psychologies from a variety of local cultural perspectives worldwide.

by James Hillman, Ph.D.

On the twenty-fifth anniversary of Pacifica Graduate Institute, James Hillman, Ph.D. gave a talk about the ways that Pacifica serves, promotes, and sparks the development of the education of the soul. What follows is a transcription of his talk.

By Nadia Thalji, Ph.D., Clinical Psychology, Pacifica Graduate Institute

In these moments of challenges, I find comfort in recalling the holding space that Pacifica provided, and continues to provide, through lasting friendships and companionship. I recall the life-changing encounters with my fellow classmates, and the precious sharing and witnessing of each other’s unfolding. 

The exposure to new concepts, teachings, and discussions. The generous exchanges with professors, mentors, and librarians. The smiling cooks who prepared delicious meals to soothe our mind and bodies after intense classes. The birds and trees that brought beauty, balance, and proportion every day.

by Dr. Oksana Yakushko, Chair of Clinical Psychology Ph.D. Program

Pacifica’s Clinical Ph.D. program prepares individuals to engage in varied roles available to psychologists, including in varied clinical practice settings, academia, business consulting, non-profit work, writing, and engaging in innovative work in the world.

I'd like to introduce one of our alumni, Dr. Bryan McNutt, who was recently published “Principles for Addressing Implicit Organizational Trauma” in The Journal of Employee Assistance. 

An Interview of Stephen Aizenstat by Angela Borda, Part II of II