This certificate program explores the intersection of depth psychology and Marianismo, the cultural ideal of feminine virtue in Latina/Chicana communities modeled after the Virgin Mary. Through Jungian, archetypal, and feminist depth psychological lenses, participants will examine how Marianismo shapes identity, family dynamics, spirituality, and psychological wholeness for Latinas across generations.

What you will receive:

• 8 Interactive Live Webinar Sessions with world-recognized experts in applied archetypal astrology and relational and liminal process facilitation
• 8 Video Learning Sessions to watch at your convenience
• A Private, on-line Discussion Forum
• Pacifica Graduate Institute Advanced Training Certificate upon successful completion of the course

This course is ideal for: 

• Clinicians working with Latina/Chicana populations who want to deepen their understanding of how cultural archetypes and Marianismo influence mental health presentations, family dynamics, and therapeutic outcomes in their practice.
• Mental health professionals seeking cultural competency in depth psychology who wish to integrate Jungian, archetypal, and feminist perspectives with culturally-responsive therapeutic approaches for diverse communities.
• Latina/Chicana therapists and counselors interested in exploring their own cultural identity, examining intergenerational patterns, and developing authentic clinical approaches that honor both their cultural heritage and professional training.
• Graduate students in psychology, counseling, or social work who want to specialize in multicultural counseling, depth psychology, or women’s studies with a focus on intersectionality and cultural healing practices.
• Lifelong learners and educators passionate about mythology, feminine archetypes, and cultural studies who seek to understand the psychological and spiritual dimensions of Latina/Chicana identity, indigenous wisdom, and decolonial healing frameworks.

Individual Session Descriptions:

Week 1: Foundations of Depth Psychology and Cultural Archetypes

Instructor: Sandra del Castillo, Ph.D. (Beginning with a 30-minute All Faculty Welcome Panel)

Live zoom session: Thursday July 23, 2026, 12:00 – 2:00pm PT

• Jung’s model of the psyche: ego, shadow, anima/animus, Self
• Archetypal patterns and their cultural expressions
• The redemptive role of myth, symbol, and ritual in psychological development
• Cultural complexes in Latina/Chicana communities And a myth!

Week 2: Marianismo Historical, Cultural, and Spiritual Roots

Instructor: Sandra del Castillo, Ph.D.

Live zoom session: Thursday July 30, 2026, 12:00 – 1:30pm PT

• Guadalupe/Tonantzin: Her story: a kairos moment
• Syncretism, cultural identity
• The Inquisition, “intra-psychic split,” and the Shadow
• “good” woman ideal: self-sacrifice, purity, and maternal devotion
• Marianismo Machismo: complementary cultural scripts as liberating force
• Generational transmission of Marianismo values

Week 3: The Shadow Side of Marianismo

Instructor: Cynthia Perez, LCSW

Live zoom session: August 6, 2026, 12:00 – 1:30pm PT

This week we acknowledge the Legacy Burdens of Marianismo and center the gender caste system of Latina women that tied them to an impossible comparison to The Virgin de Guadalupe/ The Virgin Mary. Rooted in colonialism by the forced indoctrination of Spanish Catholicism on the Indigenous People of the Americas, Marianismo became a coping belief that became a value, then a virtue passed down to daughters, and is now a behavior living in our autonomic nervous system passed down as intergenerational trauma.

This week we discuss the shadow side of Marianismo through its impact, symptoms and grief:

• The Roots of Collective trauma- colonization, migration, and cultural dislocation
• Un Susto Heredado- The Sacred Rage and Grief of Marianismo
• The Calladita Construct and the strive to be a “good daughter”
• The Gender Caste- Shame as a tool of colonization
• Exploitation of The Mother- Invisible Labor and Capitalism on the Backs of Las Mujeres
• The Burden of Perfection: anxiety, depression, and somatic symptoms
• The Nervous System of Marianismo

Week 4: Clinical Applications and Therapeutic Approaches

Instructor: Angelina Rodriguez, Ph. D.

Live zoom session: August 13, 2026, 12:00 – 1:30pm PT

Marianismo does not announce itself by name in the consulting room. It arrives as somatic exhaustion, silenced rage, devotion mistaken for depletion, and a profound difficulty of receiving care. This week we develop the clinical eye to recognize the complex and therapeutic tools to work with it responsibly. Drawing on Jungian analytical psychology, we examine four domains: assessment and clinical recognition; expressive arts and dreamwork as culturally resonant interventions; resistance rooted in cultural loyalty; and the ethical practice of supervision and cultural humility across differences. Both the recorded session and live Zoom move participants from conceptual grounding to clinical competence.

Week 5: Intersections of Identity: Exploring Womanhood

Instructor: Clara Oropeza, Ph. D.

Live zoom session: August 20, 2026, 12:00 – 1:30pm PT

In this module, we will discuss the impacts of Marianismo on individuation, creativity, and the maternal wound. To set the theoretical framework for this module, we will be reading the introduction of A Re-mapping of Womanhood and Creativity and Chapter 3. During the module, we will define individuation, matrilineal ancestry, and the maternal wound (daughterhood) in connection to creativity. We will discuss the impacts of a disconnection from a maternal heritage and also explore sisterhood.

Week 6: The Magic of Marianismo- Intuition, Embodiment, and Spiritual Empowerment

Cynthia Perez, LCSW

Live zoom session: August 27, 2026, 12:00 – 1:30pm PT

Marianismo has been generations of obligations and expectations for historically colonized Latina-Xicana-Diaspora, but they also survived through their legacy resources, the gifts passed down through remedios or genetic inheritance. This week is softening and un apapacho (Nahuatl word for “to embrace with one´s soul) for the generations of women who carried the mysticism of their powerful ancestors in their fingertips and the healing remedies in their intuition and traditions. We honor the epigenetic power of what grandmothers knew would provide protection, joy, abundance and connection:

• The Sacral Chakra Wound of Marianismo
• Internalized FOMO or the “Fear of Missing Out” as colonial spiritual isolation
• Spiritual Dismemberment and Reconnecting to Indigenous Medicine
• Polyvagal Theory- The Epigenetic Flow of Ancestral Innovation and Pleasure
• Glamour Magic and the Legacy Resources of Marianismo
• Pleasure and Creativity as Personal and Collective Liberation
• The Body as an Altar and other ceremonies to activate our magical Knowing

Week 7: Reclaiming La Malinche and Other Forbidden Archetypes

Instructor: Sandra del Castillo, Ph.D.

Live zoom session: Thursday September 3, 2026, 12:00 – 1:30pm PT

• La Malinche: traitor, translator, survivor, or an archetypal evolution?
• La Llorona: Colonizer archetype vs. Mesoamerican archetype
• Coatlicue, Mesoamerican Mother goddess
• Integrating “rejected” feminine aspects

Week 8: An Offering to Self: Freedom from Societal Conditioning

Instructor: Clara Oropeza, Ph. D.

Live zoom session: September 10, 2026, 12:00 – 1:30pm PT

In this module, we will focus on rewriting the narratives that keep us small and that help break harmful silences. We will read examples of liberating narratives to help inspire us to write our own.

Learning Objectives:

(12 CECs)

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• List key terms and concepts of Jungian depth psychology related to the course.
• Describe the power of myth from a Jungian perspective.
• Analyze a historical/archetypal perspective of Guadalupe/Tonantzin to bring awareness to her manifestations, both shadow- in the Marianismo of the colonizer, as well as her historic role as powerful cosmic Mother and Liberator.
• Apply an archetypal eye with which to identify which Marianismo is at play in our personal lives as well as in the collective.
• Assess the awareness of the effects of toxic stress and inherited legacy burdens on the autonomic nervous system.
• Describe the historic role gender and religious constructs have in physical, emotional and spiritual wellness in Latina/e women, daughters & mothers and their connection to their children, their communities and themselves.
• List at least three clinical presentations in which the Marianismo complex is active — including somatic expression, relational enmeshment, and shadow projection — and apply Jungian assessment frameworks to distinguish cultural adaptation from psychopathology.
• Demonstrate working knowledge of at least two Jungian expressive arts or dreamwork interventions that can be ethically adapted for Latina and Latin American women clients, and articulate at least one supervisory or self-reflective strategy for practicing with cultural humility across difference.
• Critically analyze a seminal work that reflects on the ways that Marianismo impacts mother and daughter relationships and sisterhood.
• Assess how personal (familial) and historical paradigms of womanhood impact creativity and individuation.
• Discuss common language for clinicians to identify intergenerational patterns in families with cultural resources for personal and collective healing.
• Demonstrate personal awareness and coping skills as a clinician serving Latino families with complex historical and spiritual trauma.
• Describe a Jungian perspective of the role of Mesoamerican feminine icons and archetypes to deepen understanding and their potential today.
• Will cultivate an archetypal eye with which to discern which manifestation of the goddess or icon is at play, in our personal lives as well as in the collective.
• Describe reflective and creative approaches inspired by mythology and literature to writing personal narratives about accessing agency amidst personal and cultural conditioning.

Career Competencies:

1. Cultural Assessment and Clinical Recognition: Ability to identify and assess how Marianismo and cultural archetypes manifest in clinical presentations, family dynamics, and psychological symptoms within Latina/Chicana communities, utilizing depth psychological frameworks.

2. Culturally Informed Therapeutic Intervention: Competency in applying depth psychological therapeutic techniques (dream work, sandplay, expressive arts, somatic healing) while integrating cultural humility, recognizing cultural loyalty, and honoring indigenous healing practices like Curanderismo.

3. Archetypal and Symbolic Analysis: Skill in analyzing cultural myths, symbols, and archetypal patterns through Jungian and feminist depth psychological lenses to understand identity formation, collective trauma, and psychological wholeness in diverse cultural contexts.

4. Intergenerational and Relational Systems Understanding: Capacity to work with complex family systems, generational transmission of cultural values, individuation struggles, and relational patterns while balancing therapeutic intervention with cultural respect and preservation.

5. Culturally Responsive Professional Practice: Ability to integrate depth psychological theory with multicultural competence, recognize cultural complexes and collective trauma (colonization, migration, dislocation), and facilitate healing processes that honor cultural roots while supporting client autonomy and liberation.

SCHEDULE FOR LIVE ONLINE LEARNING SESSIONS

Week 1: Zoom Session – July 23, 2026 – 12:00 – 2pm PT – (first 30 minutes: All faculty welcome panel), Sandra del Castillo – module instructor

Week 2: Zoom Session – July 30, 2026 – 12:00 – 1:30pm PT – Sandra del Castillo

Week 3: Zoom Session – August 6, 2026 – 12:00 – 1:30pm PT – Cynthia Perez

Week 4: Zoom Session – August 13, 2026 – 12:00 – 1:30pm PT – Angelina Rodriguez

Week 5: Zoom Session – August 20, 2026 – 12:00 – 1:30pm PT – Clara Oropeza

Week 6: Zoom Session – August 27, 2026 – 12:00 – 1:30pm PT- Cynthia Perez

Week 7: Zoom Session – September 3, 2026 – 12:00 – 1:30pm PT- Sandra del Castillo

Week 8: Zoom Session – September 10, 2026 – 12:00 – 1:30pm PT– Clara Oropeza

 

Required & Recommended Readings:

Week 1: Sandra del Castillo

Required Readings:

Anzaldúa, G. (2015). Preface, Let us be the healing of the wound. In Anzaldúa, G., Keating A.  (Ed.) Luz en lo oscuro: Rewriting identity, spirituality, reality (pp. 1-22). Durham & London: Duke University Press.

Hillman, J. (2007). Joseph Campbell: Myth as hero. In Mythic Figures (pp. 337-340). Putnam, CN: Spring Publications.

Hopcke, R. (1989/1999). Archetypes and the collective unconscious, Ego, Shadow, Persona, Anima/Animus, Self In A guided tour of the collected works of C.G. Jung (pp. 13-18, 79-99).

Jung, CG & Segal, R. (Ed.) (1998). Introduction In Jung on Mythology (pp. 1-45). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Kimbles, S. & Singer, T. (Eds) (2004). Malinchismo: Betraying one’s own.  In The cultural complex: Contemporary Jungian perspectives on psyche and society (pp.35-45). New York, NY: Routledge.

Recommended Reading:

Silko, L. (1977). Ts’its’tsi’nako, Thought-Woman In Ceremony (pp. 1-3). New York, NY: Penguin Books.

Von Franz, M. (1995). The Creation Myth In Creation Myths (pp. 1-27). Boston & London: Shambhala.

JMorales86. (2013, December 7). The Five Suns: The Sacred History of Mexico [Video].

YouTube. https://youtu.be/ITstgdnmp6Y?si=J7qnsYis_LrayVQ0

 

Week 2: Sandra del Castillo

Required Readings:

Carrasco, D. (1990). Mesoamerica as a new world: Colonialism and religious creativity. In  Carrasco, D. Religions of Mesoamerica: Cosmovision and ceremonial centers (pp. 124-138). Long Gove, IL, Waveland Press, Inc.

Del Castillo, S. (2020). The Mexican day of the dead: A Jungian Inquiry [Doctoral dissertation, Pacifica Graduate Institute]. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses @ Pacifica.edu

Pinkola-Estés, C. (2011). Our Lady behind the wall. Untie the strong woman: Blessed mother’s immaculate love for the wild soul (pp. 81-128). Boulder, CO: Sounds True

Pinkola-Estés, C. (2011). Guadalupe is a girl gang member in heaven. Untie the strong woman: Blessed mother’s immaculate love for the wild soul (pp. 39-44)). Boulder, CO: Sounds True

Recommended Readings:

 Nican Mopohua. (n.d.). NYPL Digital Collections. Retrieved from http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/

Hanut, E. (2001). The road to Guadalupe: A modern pilgrimage to the goddess of the Americas. New York, NY: Penguin Putnamn, Inc.

Pinkola-Estés, C. (2011). Untie the strong woman: Blessed mother’s immaculate love for the wild soul. Boulder, CO: Sounds True

 

Week 3: Cynthia Perez

Required Readings:

Alonzo Perez, C., Mendoza, S., Rumble, E., Najera, M., Shetty, R., Ozaeta, I., Santiago, A., & Rodriguez-Cabrera, V. (2024). My Marianismo: Nurturing myself from the roots to the bloom.

Éstes, C. P. (1995). Women who run with wolves: Myths and stories of the Wild Women Archetype. Ballantine Books.

Montalvo, Clarissa Aileen, “MARIANISMO: CHALLENGING TRADITIONAL MEXICAN-AMERICAN ROLES FOR WOMEN” (2024). Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations. 2099.

Ruiz, D. (2018, April). La indigena: Risky Identity Politics and Decolonial Agency as Indigenous Consciousness. Africology: The Journal of Pan African Studies, 11(6). [1, 2]

Recommended Readings:

Self Silencing of Marianismo

https://www.youtube.com/live/0lQOIysoVsQ?si=hbrVmn4_r1_1qxn2

Week 4: Angelina Rodriguez

Required Readings:

Borderlands / La Frontera — chapters 2 & 3

Anzaldúa, G. (1987). Borderlands / La Frontera: The new mestiza (Chs. 2–3, pp. 37–73). Aunt Lute Books. [Available via Open Library or institutional PDF]

The sons of La Malinche Paz, O. (1985). The sons of La Malinche. In The labyrinth of solitude and The other Mexico (L. Kemp, Trans., pp. 65–88). Grove Press. (Original work published 1950)

The cultural complex and the Latina psyche Singer, T., & Kimbles, S. L. (Eds.). (2004). The cultural complex: Contemporary Jungian perspectives on psyche and society (pp. 3–20; 96–112). Brunner-Routledge. [Introduction + Chapter 6: “Cultural complexes in analysis”]

Construction and initial validation of the Marianismo Beliefs Scale Castillo, L. G., Perez, F. V., Castillo, R., & Ghosheh, M. R. (2010). Construction and initial validation of the Marianismo Beliefs Scale. Counselling Psychology Quarterly, 23(2), 163–175. https://doi.org/10.1080/09515071003776036

 

Recommended Readings:

Espín, O. M. (1997). Latina realities: Essays on healing, migration, and sexuality. Westview Press.

Jung, C. G. (1968). The archetypes and the collective unconscious (R. F. C. Hull, Trans.; 2nd ed., CW Vol. 9i, pp. 54–72). Princeton University Press.

Vasquez, M. J. T. (1994). Latinas. In L. Comas-Díaz & B. Greene (Eds.), Women of color: Integrating ethnic and gender identities in psychotherapy (pp. 114–138). Guilford Press.

Woodman, M. (1985). The pregnant virgin: A process of psychological transformation (Chs. 1–3). Inner City Books.

Ramírez, M. (1998). Multicultural psychotherapy: An approach to individual and cultural differences (2nd ed.). Allyn & Bacon.

Stevens, A. (2002). Archetype revisited: An updated natural history of the self. Brunner-Routledge. [Chapter on the Great Mother archetype]

Recommended films

The Holy Girl
Martel, L. (Director). (2004). The holy girl [Film]. Lita Stantic Producciones.

Real Women Have Curves
Cardoso, P. (Director). (2002). Real women have curves [Film]. HBO Films; Newmarket Films.

 

Week 5: Clara Oropeza

Required Readings:

A Re-mapping of Womanhood and Creativity: Chapter 1: “Introduction: To be indigenous on this Land: Searching for a Matrilineal Legacy.”

Recommended Readings:

Atlas, Galt. Emotional Inheritance: A Therapist, Her Patients, and the Legacy of Trauma Little, Brown Spark, 2022.

Brown, Adrienne Maree. Loving Corrections. AK Press. 2024.

Baring and Cashford. The Myth of the Goddess: Evolution of an Image. Penguin Books, 1991.

Buqué, Mariel. Break the Cycle: A Guide to Healing Intergenerational Trauma. Dutton, 2024.

Cleary, Heather and Gabriela Jauregu. Tsunami: Women’s Voices From Mexico. The Feminist Press at CUNY, 2025.

Lèger, Nathalie. The White Dress. Les Fugitives, 2020.

Nin, Anaïs.  The Diary of Anais Nin Volume 2 (134-1939). Harvest, 1967.

Perera, Sylvia Brinton. Descent to the Goddess: A Way of Initiation for Women. Inner City Books, 1981.

 

Week 6: Cynthia Perez

Required Readings:

Alonzo Perez, C., Mendoza, S., Rumble, E., Najera, M., Shetty, R., Ozaeta, I., Santiago, A., & Rodriguez-Cabrera, V. (2024). My Marianismo: Nurturing myself from the roots to the bloom.

Buenaflor, E. (2018). Cleansing rites of curanderismo: Limpias Espirituales of ancient Mesoamerican shamans. Bear & Company.

de la Torre Castellanos, A. R. (2021). Home altars: Material expressions of spiritual do-it-yourself. International Journal of Latin American Religions, 5(1), 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41603-021-00131-9

Lazarieva, A. (2025). Inner cosmos as a resource for psychological stabilisation: The therapeutic potential of cosmological imagination. Philosophy and Cosmology, 35. https://doi.org/10.29202/phil-cosm/35/6 

Hartley, G. (2020). The curandera of conquest. The Chicano Studies Reader, 137–152. https://doi.org/10.1515/9780895512000-010

Recommended Readings:

Marianismo

S02-EP07: “Get Rooted, Mija” with guest, author Robyn Moreno

https://canva.link/hbfcne9wtokbifq

 

Week 7: Sandra del Castillo

Required Readings:

(2022) Townsend, C. (2022). La Lengua/The Interpreter. In Lyall, V. & Romo, T. (Eds.), In Traitor, survivor, icon: The legacy of La Malinche (pp. 10-18). New Haven, CN: Yale University Press.

Romo, T.  (2022). Hijas de la Malinche. In Lyall, V. & Romo, T. (Eds.), Traitor, survivor, icon: The legacy of La Malinche (pp. 155-175). New Haven, CN: Yale University Press.

Townsend, C. (2006). Introduction, Pelican’s Kingdom. In Malintzin’s choices: An indian woman in the conquest of Mexico (pp. 1-29).  Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press.

Recommended Readings:

Lyall, V. & Romo, T. (Eds.) (2022) Traitor, survivor, icon: The legacy of La Malinche. New Haven, CN: Yale University Press.

Townsend, C. (2006). Malintzin’s choices: An indian woman in the conquest of Mexico. Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press.

Paz, O. (1985). The sons of Malinche. In The labyrinth of solitude; The other Mexico; Return to the labyrinth of Solitude; Mexico and the United States; The philanthropic ogre. New York, NY: Grove Press.

Week 8: Clara Oropeza

Required Readings:

A Re-mapping of Womanhood and Creativity: Chapter 4: “In Search of My Mother’s Mythos,” Cherríe Moraga “La Güera,” and Gloria Anzaldúa, “La Prieta.”

 

Recommended Readings:

Phillips, Shelley. Beyond the Myths: Mother-Daughter Relationships in Psychology, History, Literature and Everyday Life. Penguin Books, 1991.

Trethewey, Rachel. Mothers of the Mind. The History Press, 2023.

Viramontes, Helena Maria. The Moths and Other Stores. Arte Público Press, 1995.

Walker, Alice. In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens. Harcourt, Inc., 1983.

Webster, Bethany. Discovering the Inner Mother: A Guide to Healing the Mother Wound and Claiming Your Personal Power. William Morrow, 2021.