Pacifica Graduate Institute
Pacifica Graduate Institute is a private for-profit graduate school with two campuses near Santa Barbara, California. The institute offers masters and doctoral degrees in the fields of clinical psychology, counseling, mythological studies, depth psychology, and the humanities. The institute is accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission.
History
It origin as an educational institution dates to the 1976 inauguration of a nine-month para-professional Counseling Skills Certificate program offered by the Human Relations Center. The institute's original name was the Human Relations Institute.The M.A. in Counseling Psychology was initiated in 1982. In 1984 the institute announced a new M.A. Counseling Psychology program with an emphasis in depth psychology. The program was launched in 1984 by Stan Passy, who drew on his doctoral work in archetypal psychology with James Hillman at the University of Dallas. Faculty and visiting lecturers have included Marion Woodman, Thomas Moore, Robert A. Johnson, and Marija Gimbutas.
In 1996, Dr. Stephen Aizenstat was named Founding President and Gary Linker was the Vice President when the Santa Barbara Graduate School Inc. was formed as a private corporation.
The name of the school was changed to the Pacifica Graduate Institute in 1989.
The mythological studies program was created in 1994 by Jonathan Young, building on his work as founding curator of the Joseph Campbell Archives. The program combines folklore, literature, creative studies, and archetypal psychology.
In September 2013 and March 2014, groups of former and current Ph.D. students from the clinical psychology program filed a lawsuit stating that the school misrepresented its APA accreditation status. They alleged negligent and intentional misrepresentation, concealment and unfair business practices, according to the complaint. Pacifica responded that the claims were without merit. Pacifica has never said that its degree programs in clinical psychology are accredited by the APA, an independent regulatory body. While some states and jurisdictions require graduation from an APA accredited school for licensure to practice as a clinical psychologist, California, where Pacifica is located, does not require APA accreditation.
The Engaged Humanities & Creative Life program, along with the Jungian & Archetypal Studies specialization of the M.A./Ph.D. program are the two online/hybrid programs Pacifica offers, with the majority of coursework accomplished online by students. The online studies are combined with quarterly four-day visits either on campus or at the New York Open Center. All other degrees are completed in monthly three-day or four-day retreats and one summer week annually.
Academics
The institute offers Masters of Arts, Psy.D., and Ph.D. degrees. Pacifica's academic programs are all subject to review and approval on multiple levels by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior College and University Commission, the State of California Board of Private Postsecondary Education, and U. S. Department of Education. Pacifica's M.A. in Counseling Psychology program provides its mission statements, program goals, student learning outcomes, and time to completion rates. The Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology program provides its mission statements, program goals, student learning outcomes, and time to completion rates as well. Pacifica's Clinical Psychology programs, along with all other Pacifica degree programs, are accredited by WASC.The California Board of Behavioral Sciences reports that 85% of the Pacifica graduates taking the MFT standard written exam from 1/1/2015-6/30/2015 passed the exam, which ranks higher than the state average of 65% for that time period. Clinical psychology graduates had a 100% pass rate on the California Psychology Supplemental Examination exam from 1/1/14 to 12/31/14 and had an 85% pass rate on the Examination for Professional Practice of Psychology from 1/1/14 to 12/31/14.
Pacifica Extension
Pacifica Extension offers educational programs that emphasize the application of depth psychology to current real-world issues. Through online and on-campus formats, the program encourages collaborative learning communities that bring together imagination, scientific inquiry, and reflective exploration in an interdisciplinary academic setting. These events are open to the general public with the intention of bringing Pacifica's educational resources to the wider community. Past presenters include Joseph Campbell, Jean Houston, Michael J. Meade, Huston Smith, Malidoma Patrice Somé, Sonu Shamdasani, Thomas Moore, Marion Woodman, James Hillman, and Robert Bly.Campuses
Pacifica's two campus locations are within three miles of each other in the foothills of the Santa Barbara suburbs. The 13 acre Lambert Road Campus is the former Max Fleishman estate. The Ladera Lane campus is with views of the Pacific Ocean and Channel Islands. Each campus contains multiple gardens, while the Lambert Campus hosts the larger Organic Garden. The Organic Garden, consisting of, is farmed year round, producing vegetables and fruits available to the community.Graduate Research Library
Pacifica Graduate Institute's library resources and services support graduate-level study in the areas of counseling psychology, clinical psychology, depth psychology, depth psychotherapy, mythological studies, and humanities. Subject area strengths are in Jungian and archetypal psychology, depth psychology, psychoanalysis, clinical psychology, mythology, religious studies, psychological studies of literature, and research methodology. The Graduate Research Libraries on the Lambert and Ladera campuses contain over 26,000 books, provide access to over 300,000 ebooks, 4,000 theses and dissertations, and 2,000 audio and video materials. They also provide access to thousands of journals, both in print and electronic formats. The collection includes faculty publications, rare and hard-to-find books, and reference materials such as specialized encyclopedias and handbooks. The library also maintains an archive of open access digitized audio faculty lectures on various topics from prior years, stored in the Internet Archive. Lectures can be downloaded in different file formats or listened to online.Bookstore
The institute's bookstore stocks over 5,000 book titles focused on Depth psychology, Archetypal psychology, the humanities, and mythology. The bookstore is located on Pacifica Graduate Institute's Ladera Lane campus in Montecito.Official Pacifica Alumni Connections
Pacifica Graduate Institute established the Official Pacifica Alumni Connections as an initiative intended to support ongoing engagement with its alumni community. The program reflects the institute’s long-standing practice of maintaining relationships with graduates and providing opportunities for continued connection, collaboration, and professional development.Pacifica alumni work in fields related to depth psychology, the humanities, education, and therapeutic practice. Through Pacifica Alumni Connections, the institute facilitates communication and engagement between alumni and the broader Pacifica community, with the aim of supporting alumni activities while reinforcing the institute’s educational mission.
Notable alumni
- Nadine Macaluso, psychologist and former model.