Pacifica Graduate Institute

Dr. Safron Rossi and Dr. Glen Slater will be giving a keynote address at Goddess-Makers in an Age of Autocrats, August 29-31, 2025. Hosted by Pacifica Extension, this conference invites scholars, artists, activists, and visionaries to engage in a rich dialogue on how the feminine, in its many mythic and embodied forms, catalyzes personal and collective transformation. Drawing upon Jungian and archetypal psychology, feminist theory, mythology, and the arts, we will explore how figures like Enheduanna—and the goddesses, muses, and creators who followed—continue to inspire movements for justice, healing, and rebalancing power. In an era marked by the resurgence of authoritarianism, the creative feminine emerges as a force of transformation, resistance, and renewal. Goddess-Makers in an Age of Autocrats explores the depth psychological dimensions of the archetypal feminine—its capacity to shape culture, inspire justice, and reimagine collective futures in the face of oppressive systems.

Join us for this powerful gathering! Learn more and register on our website: https://loom.ly/TpVGMHc

Safron Rossi, Ph.D., has spent her life steeped in literature, religion and mythology, fields in which she holds her degrees. She is Core Faculty in the Jungian and Archetypal Studies MA/PhD program, and she is the author of The Kore Goddess: A Mythology & Psychology. Her work focuses on Greek mythology, archetypal psychology, astrology, and goddess traditions.

Glen Slater, Ph.D., has been teaching at Pacifica for over twenty years and is currently the Associate Chair of the Jungian and Archetypal Studies specialization. He is the author of Jung vs Borg: Finding the Deeply Human in a Posthuman Age, and his publications have appeared in a number of Jungian journals and essay collections. Beyond his work in Jungian and Archetypal Psychology, he writes on psyche and film as well as the psychology of technology.

Judge Diane M. Goodman, Ph.d., was appointed to the Los Angeles Superior Court in 2022 and is currently sitting in a family law assignment at the Michael Antonovich Antelope Valley Courthouse. She is also a graduate of our Ph.D. in Depth Psychology with Specialization in Jungian Psychology and Archetypal Studies (DJA)

"I was doing things in mediation that were intuitive, figuring out what was going on that wasn’t being said, but I didn’t always have the words for what I was doing. I felt if I had more experience in depth psychology and archetypes, I’d be able to articulate what I was doing. I’d have more tools in my toolbox to do it from. Pacifica gave me those tools and made me a much better mediator. I learned that a lot of times things are not about the law but are emotion-driven. People need to be heard and tell their story, and I was able to do that in mediation, and that helped them resolve their conflicts." -Judge Diane M. Goodman, Ph.d.

To learn more about the Ph.D. in Depth Psychology with Specialization in Jungian Psychology and Archetypal Studies Program, visit us here: https://loom.ly/R7EReXM

"When I speak to students in the Depth Psychology and Creativity program about poetry, I am speaking about poiesis, which in the Greek (ποίησις) means “making, creating, producing,” or to bring something novel into being—creative output in any medium. But I am after all a poet, so I also mean poetry. The very pulse of creation, for a poet attuned to its deeper rhythms, often feels less like an act of will and more like an act of witness—of listening through the language. If one is really listening in the process of creation, the act of crafting a poem is rarely a solitary, purely conscious endeavor. There are moments—you might recognize them—when language arrives, not as chosen word or phrase, but as an insistent presence, a current from a deeper river. This mystery of influence and inspiration, this sense of being seized by forces from without, forms the core of C. G. Jung’s (1966) captivating essay, “On the Relation of Analytical Psychology to Poetry,” found in the Collected Works of C. G. Jung, Vol. 15: The Spirit in Man, Art, and Literature." -Dr. James Meetze

Dr. James Meetze is the award-winning author of five books of poetry and an adjunct faculty of Pacifica’s M.A. in Depth Psychology and Creativity with Emphasis in the Arts and Humanities as well as being an alumni of Pacifica’s M.A./Ph.D. in Mythological Studies with Emphasis in Depth Psychology. To read more of James's article, visit us here: https://loom.ly/a2MlUG4

"I oftentimes refer to our students and our alums as the new Renaissance people of the twenty-first century. They’re polymaths and shapeshifters who can’t be confined into a single categorization or specialty. Modern Western societies push us to specialize from a very early age, which is incredibly limiting. Our students come to realize that they’ve always had a hard time staying in one lane; they’re ready to allow their inherent multiplicity to flourish in ways that nourish their souls and serve the world around them. It takes courage to go against the prevailing social norms, and this includes the courage to declare an allegiance to one’s creative life." -Mary A. Wood, Ph.D., Chair of M.A. Depth Psychology and Creativity with Emphasis in the Arts and Humanities and author of The Archetypal Artist.

Creativity is an enigma. As poet and psychoanalyst Clarissa Pinkola Estés has observed, it is a “shapeshifter,” a “dazzling spirit” that appears in all our lives while eluding our attempts to explain its radiance. C.G. Jung regarded creativity as a vital human instinct; a force akin to nature itself, which drives the unfolding and shaping of every life. Creativity is also a calling, one that makes its claim upon individuals who in turn devote themselves to crafting the stories, objects, and experiences that illuminate and transform our world. The knowledge-making traditions of depth psychology, the arts, and the humanities can inform and nourish every type of creative endeavor, including those dedicated to social justice, climate activism, and communal healing. In fact, the world itself has its own creativity, manifested in the archetypes of the collective unconscious, whose symbols, images, metaphors, and movements are the prima materia of our co-creative and inexorably interconnected lives.

The Depth Psychology and Creativity Program with Emphasis in the Arts and Humanities is a unique low-residency Master of Arts program that invites students to discover for themselves —and within themselves—the eternally rich sources of inspiration long-associated with the arts and humanities.

Read more about this amazing program here: https://loom.ly/pIo08e8

Belonging and Changing Together: Convening groups to change ourselves and our communities
Tuesday July 22, 2025, 5:00-6:30pm. (PST).

Dr. Camille Jarmie and Dr. Peter T. Dunlap (Core faculty Clinical Psychology) will host a conversation about the dynamic relationship between psychotherapy and citizenship. While psychotherapy is often thought of as “internal work” and while community engagement can be thought of as “external work,” the integration of these is wholly possible. This integration begins in stories of belonging which help us understand the reasons we become healers. Such stories then extend from the consulting room into our communities and into the fabric of our shared collective history. Rooted in our shared history we are learning to focus on our shared becoming, that is, the way we are all fragments of an emerging, shared future. Through story telling we can learn to tell this deeper story, to find the way in which we can fit ourselves back together, into a shared remedy, into a highly practical vocational and professional path that enables us to become the people called for by our time.

Register now! https://loom.ly/fAuo77A

Dr. Elizabeth Nelson will be giving a keynote address at Goddess-Makers in an Age of Autocrats, August 29-31, 2025. Hosted by Pacifica Extension, this conference invites scholars, artists, activists, and visionaries to engage in a rich dialogue on how the feminine, in its many mythic and embodied forms, catalyzes personal and collective transformation. Drawing upon Jungian and archetypal psychology, feminist theory, mythology, and the arts, we will explore how figures like Enheduanna—and the goddesses, muses, and creators who followed—continue to inspire movements for justice, healing, and rebalancing power. In an era marked by the resurgence of authoritarianism, the creative feminine emerges as a force of transformation, resistance, and renewal. Goddess-Makers in an Age of Autocrats explores the depth psychological dimensions of the archetypal feminine—its capacity to shape culture, inspire justice, and reimagine collective futures in the face of oppressive systems.

Elizabeth Nelson has been a member of the faculty since 2003, and has served as Dissertation Office Director, Dissertation Policy Director, and currently chairs the Graduate Research Council. Elizabeth is the author of two books, The Art of Inquiry coauthored with Joseph Coppin, which is now in its third edition (Spring Publications, 2017). Her second book is Psyche’s Knife: Archetypal Explorations of Love and Power (Chiron, 2012). She has also published several papers and book chapters. As a professional writer and editor for over 30 years, Elizabeth continues to coach aspiring authors across a variety of genres and styles.

Join us for this powerful gathering! Learn more and register on our website: https://loom.ly/TpVGMHc

Clara Oropeza, Ph.D., is a writer and academic living in Santa Barbara, California. She earned a Ph.D. in Mythological Studies with Emphasis in Depth Psychology from Pacifica, and is a Professor of English Literature and Composition at Santa Barbara City College. She is the author of Re-mapping of Womanhood and Creativity, as well as Anaïs Nin: A Myth of Her Own. Her most recent publication is A Re-mapping of Womanhood and Creativity: A Literary and Depth Psychological Perspective.

"The connection between the mother-daughter relationships and our creativity is about giving in to the yearning to search for a matrilineal lineage to which one could belong. While this connection starts with one’s personal mother; it ultimately lands one in the heart of a search for the inner mother.

"This is where depth psychology plays into my work. I explore various archetypes, such as the Great mother, the role she plays in our quest to find mothering. I am interested in the role that healing our maternal wound plays in our own individuation. Along this path is an invitation to examine the archetype of the devoted and the resentful daughter. Also located on this path is a source of confidence in the power of art, of our stories, to unearth meaning and truth in ordinary lives and events." -Clara Oropeza, Ph.D.

On JULY 9, 2025, at 12-1pm, Clara will be featured in an author spotlight by Pacifica Extension and International Studies. This talk, "A Re-mapping of Womanhood and Creativity," will investigate the diverse ways in which women set out to find a matrilineal line as a well-spring for creative transformation, and, through a lens of analytical psychology, how we read women’s literary history and narratives about womanhood. Join us!
Register here: https://loom.ly/HvNZ6EU