A message from President Dr. Joseph Cambray to Pacifica Graduate Institute students, alumni, and faculty affected by Hurricane Harvey 

Dear Pacifica Community,

This past week we have witnessed devastating weather along the coast of Texas brought by Hurricane Harvey. The unparalleled rainfall has surpassed all records for a single storm in the United States and has caused tremendous flooding, filling our daily news with images of disaster and heroic rescues. There are more than 40 members of our Pacifica community who may have been impacted by the storm in the Houston area. Over 200 alumni and current students live in Texas, as well as a few faculty, and many of us have friends and family in the state.

Depth Psychology in the World: New President Joseph Cambray on Extending the Vision for Pacifica Graduate Institute
A Guest Post by Bonnie Bright, Ph.D.

As the newly appointed President and CEO of Pacifica, Dr. Joseph Cambray is no stranger to the Institute. With a long history as a Jungian analyst, he began teaching as adjunct faculty in the Depth Psychotherapy Program (now the Ph.D. in Depth Psychology with Specialization in Integrative Therapy and Healing Practices) at Pacifica in 2010, and started serving as provost in 2015. During his tenure as president of the IAAP (International Association for Analytical Psychology), which ended in 2013, Cambray had become increasingly interested in the diversification of depth or analytical psychology (often these two terms are used interchangeably) that he was witnessing on the worldwide stage as it moved into new communities. He was drawn to Pacifica in part because he perceived the powerful opportunities it offered to pursue new directions in depth psychology and to help grow depth psychology on the world stage.

This article first appeared in the 2017 edition of Hearing Voices. Displacing Boundaries of Race and Politics of Space in Los Angeles by Alisa Orduna, Dissertation Student in the Community Psychology, Liberation Psychology, and Ecopsychology Specialization.

As the Mayor’s Director of Homelessness Policy, our City’s homeless community of 28,000 residents is my primary constituent base. For far too long, L.A. has addressed homelessness and poverty through policies of containment- isolating persons with severe mental illness, substance use disorder, sexual minorities, and African Americans – in “designated” spaces of the City. Homelessness and poverty were also addressed through therapeutic models that focused on assimilating the individual into a biased model of a “productive citizen” of society.

Pacifica represents at the 2017 Biennial Conference for the Society for Community Research and Action (SCRA)

This team of students, faculty, and alumni largely represent the Community Psychology, Liberation Psychology, and Ecopsychology Specialization of the M.A./Ph.D. Depth Psychology Program here at Pacifica.

We are excited to share this amazing body of work that our students, faculty, and alumni are engaging with and wish them well presenting at the University of Ottawa, in Ontario, Canada where the conference is being held.

Here is a list of Pacifica community members presenting at the conference:

Pacifica Graduate Institute Clinical Psychology Program Faculty Member Receives Psychoanalytic Center of California (PCC)

Dr. Avedis Panajian, who is Core Faculty in Pacifica’s Clinical Psychology Program has been awarded the Psychoanalytic Center of California Certificate of Recognition for his significant contributions to the founding and work of the PCC. Panajian is one of the primary founders of this internationally approved advanced analytic training for psychiatrists, psychologists, and other mental health professionals.

The Friday before commencement is the M.A. Counseling Psychology Program's Thesis Presentation Day. Students who wish to present their thesis to fellow classmates, family, staff, and professors have the opportunity to showcase their research findings and experiences throughout the procesw. Today we would like to highlight all of the presenters and the titles of their papers. Thesis presentations for the M.A. Counseling Psychology Program will take place on Friday, May 26th at Pacifica's Ladera Lane Campus.

A guest post by Jeffery Abraham, M.B.A.

As we sit back and reflect upon the last year, we here in Guest Services and Facilities cannot help but feel a sense of joy and accomplishment. It has been a busy year here at Pacifica, as our teams have been working hard to create unique and welcoming spaces for our students and guests. I would like to take a moment to highlight a few of our projects.

 A guest post by Michael P. Sipiora, Ph.D.

Marshall can’t stand “woo-woo.” Start talking about the deep psyche and watch the look on his face. Little tolerance for “woo-woo.” But who among us has a more vital imagination of this land, the plants that grow from it, the creatures that move upon it? Who could have cared more, all these years, for the soul of this place, creating “rooms,” as Marshall calls them, sites that invite poetic dwelling. Ceremonial sites, contemplative sites, memorial sites, inspirational sites, awesome sites. And the garden, the incredible garden that has preserved ancient seeds and brought an astounding variety of organic delights to the tables of the prosperous and the homeless alike. He has indeed fed our bodies and our souls.

A sense of place is central to the learning community at Pacifica Graduate Institute. Great attention has been given to creating an environment that nurtures creativity, nourishes soul, and seeks to transform. That process is guided by and enhanced by the trees, the plants, the water, and the spatial design of both the Lambert Road and Ladera Lane Campuses. And the man who has directed these efforts is heading into retirement, leaving behind a legacy of matter that will forever continue to shape our students, faculty, staff, and anyone else who has the good fortune to walk the grounds.

Pacifica co-founder and faculty member Maren Hansen asked Marshall to compile a list of his many achievements on the Pacifica campuses. Here are some highlights of Marshall’s tenure at Pacifica.

A big congratulations to the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapy (CAMFT) for working to grant eligible LMFTs employment at the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA)!