A Revision of One’s Calling: A Journey through Embodied Experience. A blog post by Melissa Nazario, based on an Interview with Elizabeth Wisniewski, D.C. by Bonnie Bright, Ph.D.

Listen to the full audio interview with Elizabeth Wisniewski here. (approx. 28 minutes)

In her first summer fieldwork as a student of Pacifica’s Ph.D. Program in Depth Psychology with Specialization in Somatic Studies, Elizabeth Wisniewski, a doctor of chiropractic, yoga instructor, and reiki practitioner, guided students through a blindfolded yoga meditation and painting class, followed by group process. The students, she said, found it scary and uncomfortable at first, but after about twenty minutes, they noticed that they were no longer competing with others in the class, nor competing with themselves to get into some crazy asana or pose.

Depth Psychology: Empowering Multicultural Women in the Wider World-An Interview with Self-Made Media Mogul, Nely Galán, MFT.  A Guest Post by Bonnie Bright, Ph.D.

Listen to the full audio interview with Nely Galán here (approx. 32 mins)

We’ve all heard the adage that success doesn’t always bring happiness, a concept Nely Galán knows well. As a Latina and a self-made media mogul who has produced hundreds of television shows, headed a TV network, and generated a significant amount of income, she felt an odd sense of relief when the economy crashed in 2008, bringing many of her projects to a halt. She realized the extent to which she felt like a hamster running around a wheel, and while she would never have tried to exit the industry if she had maintained her level of involvement in multiple projects, the economic downturn provided her a way out.

By that point in her life, she had been through psychotherapy and understood, from a personal perspective, how powerful it could be. Acknowledging that she had always wanted to go to school to study psychology, she took the plunge; first finishing a B.A., before applying to Pacifica, which had already been in her “mind and heart for a while,” as she reveals.

 Illness, Identity, and the Archetype of the Exile: Finding Meaning and Vitality through Depth Psychotherapy-An Interview with Dr. Brad Chabin. A Guest Blog Post by Bonnie Bright, Ph.D.

Listen to the full audio interview with Brad Chabin here (approx. 29 mins)

C. G. Jung viewed mid-life, the time midway between entering adulthood and the end of life, as a critical time of transition. Having focused primarily on priorities like career and family, people can be left with a sense that they are missing some fundamental meaning in their lives, a promise which might be revealed in the second half of life.[1] Dr. Brad Chabin, a depth psychotherapist with a practice in West Hollywood, California, had his own experience of a spontaneous and powerful mid-life transition.

Inside and Outside: How the Unconscious Reveals Itself Through Art, An Interview with Artist Margeaux Klein. A Guest Blog Post by Bonnie Bright, Ph.D.

When she was just eight years old, Margeaux Klein had a profound epiphany that shaped her life’s journey. She had been invited to visit the studio of her best friend's mother, an artist who always seemed so moody and mysterious. Margeaux remembers seeing the messy brushes, odd-looking tools, and the plethora of texture and colors, and it was like “a sort of white light came down from the heavens.”

Epigenetics, Ancestors, and Living Your Your Calling: An Interview with Heather McCloskey Beck A Guest Blog Post by Bonnie Bright, Ph.D.

Encouraging others to find their gifts and live their calling is a topic that has been deeply moving for Heather McCloskey Beck, who authored Take the Leap: Do What You Love 15 Minutes a Day and Create the Life of Your Dreams (2013, Conari Press). Synchronistically, decades ago, while walking on a beach in Montauk, Long Island, Beck was inspired and outlined in the sand an idea that came to her about how to create a happy life. Although the water had already swept away her markings by the time she returned from her walk, the idea resonated with her so strongly that when she returned to her campsite, she wrote it down and mailed it off to a friend.

My Pacifica Experience. A guest post by Somatic Studies Specialization student Chanda Williams.

1. Leading up to the start of classes, what excited you most about the program and Pacifica?

I feel as if this has been a decision long in progress. Since I learned about Pacifica, I was intrigued and wanted to study in all of the programs! So I needed time to get clarity regarding my passions and my work in the world. I was most excited to see the reading list for my Somatic Studies courses, and to discover that I already owned a few of the books. I considered that to be a great sign that I am on the right path. I also looked forward to meeting my cohort and learning more about them.

Dear Pacifica Community,

Over the past week progress has been made in the Carpinteria-Montecito-Santa Barbara area in our recovery from the fires and mud flows. While we are grieving the many losses, of lives, of property, of livelihoods for some community members, we are also very grateful for the vast amount of work which has been done towards recovery. On Sunday, January 21, highway 101 was re-opened in both directions between Carpinteria and Santa Barbara. Pacifica is also participating in this recovery: earlier in the week we re-opened the Lambert campus, hosted several tracks of students there as well as a track at the Pepper-Tree Inn in Santa Barbara. We have held a community meetings to discuss and coordinate a number of steps facilitating recovery. At the present time several plans to keep Pacifica fully operational are currently being implemented with the Lambert campus open but not the Ladera campus–we do not yet have a firm time line on when we can return there. Students, please note that all offices and departments are available to assist you. You can contact departments via phone or email. Please refer to our directory for phone numbers and contact information. 

Dear Pacifica Community,

On Saturday evening we learned that evacuation orders for Summerland and Carpinteria were being lifted, in addition to the opening of some roads and continued closure of others, as well as some alternate routes and methods of transportation. The Ladera campus, however, still remains in the mandatory evacuation zone because of road conditions there, so we must wait to reopen that campus. Throughout this time we have carefully monitored and adhered to the frequently changing County of Santa Barbara warnings, as safety for faculty, staff, and students is our number one priority.

This afternoon a small group of Pacifica staff and faculty living north of the Milpas exit off the 101 freeway in Santa Barbara came together in community. Simultaneously, Pacifica staff and faculty living in Carpinteria and further south also met. Joined via Zoom by others unable to access either in-person meeting spaces, we held our first community gathering since the dreadful mudslide that has destroyed a portion of the small town of Montecito after a heavy rainstorm on early Tuesday morning, January 9th. Despite being seperated by the mud and debris that has shut down the 101 freeway, we took comfort in coming together.

Here is the latest update on our recent trial by water...and mud.

Since accessibility to both of our campuses cannot be guaranteed for this upcoming weekend, we have rescheduled the classes for our Myth and Counseling cohorts, which were supposed to be on campus Friday through Sunday. While we have confirmed reports that the Lambert campus is unharmed, we still do not know in detail the condition of the Ladera campus.  However, there has been some observations that there is no widespread or severe damage.