In the clinical psychology program at Pacifica Graduate Institute, we recognize the need to integrate the healing values of psychotherapy with the justice values that concern every community. In psychology this means that we broaden our attention, not only focusing on the inner work of addressing depression, anxiety, or worse but also on the outer work of attending to the realities of our communities.

The breath of such attention is supported by practices that cultivate the essential experience of belonging, which is the birthright of every human being, to belong to a community. With this mission in mind, we invite you to join us for monthly “Lighthouse Conversations” (webinars) convened by faculty in the clinical program. This series is designed to bring together depth practitioners and students of clinical practice to explore imaginative, new initiatives aimed toward responding to our current human condition. At the heart of these gatherings is the opportunity to connect to the scholar and practitioners who are shaping the future of depth clinical practice at Pacifica Graduate Institute.  Learn more about our vision of clinical psychology, our curriculum, the opportunities to become clinical psychologists, and the hard work each student engages in to realize that dream.

The summer schedule and topics for these conversations is as follows:

Our core faculty will host the following webinars:

Engaging in Research with Soul: The emotional intelligence of the researcher.
Thursday June 26th, 2025, 5:00-6:30pm. (PST).

Dr. Brenda Murrow (Core faculty and Research Director Clinical Psychology) will host this webinar focusing on the opportunities to engage in research practices from a depth psychological perspective. In the current paradigm of large-scale research, it can be a challenge to find ways to express curiosity in an ethical and meaningful manner. It is important to remember that psychological research started as small-scale projects that helped the researchers better understand human experiences. We can follow this lead today, by finding ways to responsibly and creatively explore current phenomena that affects the patients we see and the world in which we find ourselves. She will highlight her own interests in animal assisted psychotherapy, rooted in the essential understanding of attachment and attunement across species.

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.

Advancing Minds and Hearts: A Closer Look at Our Clinical Psychology MA/PhD,
Wednesday August 20, 2025, 5:00-6:30pm. (PST).

Dr. William James Jones (Chair and Core faculty Clinical Psychology) will host a webinar introducing faculty, alumni, and current students. As a proud alumnus of the clinical program at Pacifica (’16), he will outline his own journey with personal insights about doctoral education, the creation of a private practice, teaching, and examples of bridging depth psychology into much needed communities. He will also engage guest speakers to share their journey of becoming, focusing on the ways in which the clinical psychology MA/PhD program has helped to prepare them for their current or future career path.