Requirements for Graduation

1. Students must complete a total of 83 quarter units to fulfill the degree requirement for graduation. A minimum grade of C is required in each completed course. A cumulative grade point average of 3.0 must be maintained.

2. Students must attend at least two-thirds of each course.

3. During the second year of coursework, students must pass a written comprehensive examination and prepare a scholarly and publishable article. The M.A. degree is awarded when these, together with 47 units of coursework and fieldwork, and 40 hours of depth transformative practices are successfully completed.

4. Students must petition to proceed with the third year. Faculty approval based on a comprehensive review of coursework, fieldwork, exam results, writing skills, and readiness to conduct research is required to continue in the program.

5. Students must pass a comprehensive oral exam at the end of the third year of course work.

6. A total of 60 hours of depth transformative practices (including the 40 hours for the M.A. requirement) must be completed.

7. Students must submit and defend an original dissertation accepted by the faculty.

Community Fieldwork

Students are required to arrange for community/ecological fieldwork in their home or other settings during the first and second summers. A minimum of 70 hours of direct participation in a setting, and 140 hours of related reading, writing, imaginal engagement, and reflection are required in the first summer. This is also true in the second summer, unless a student chooses to engage in community/ecological research, in which case hours of direct participation may be less to allow for in-depth data analysis. In keeping with this program’s commitment to cultivating a sensitivity which allows students to hear the concerns of the soul of/in the world—as manifested ecologically, culturally, humanly—and to respond to them through their work, students are encouraged to complete their fieldwork in settings which extend the practice of psychology beyond the clinical consulting room. Pacifica affirms that meaningful experience in the practice of depth psychology can be gained from a variety of fieldwork situations. Students have engaged in fieldwork in areas such as urban planning, environmental preservation, community arts of transformation, juvenile justice, spiritual development, education, corporate values, eldercare, and many others. The choice of a culturally diverse site is encouraged.

Comprehensive Examinations

The comprehensive examination consists of a written portion taken in the spring of second year and an oral portion taken in the spring of third year. The written examination is divided into three sections corresponding to the three study tracks of the program: Depth Psychology and the Humanities, Traditions of Depth Psychology, and Depth Psychology Research and Praxis. It is designed to assess knowledge gained in the first two years and successful completion is a part of the comprehensive petition and review process required for continuation into the third year of the program. The third year oral exam consists of the student’s formal oral presentation addressing the ways the three years of study have informed and seeded their work.

Doctoral Dissertation

The dissertation process involves the completion of all courses in research methodologies, dissertation development, and dissertation writing. Students must complete The Research Process and Imaginal Perspectives in Research and Praxis and the Dissertation Concept Paper before enrolling in the Dissertation Writing courses. The dissertation committee is composed of an advisor, an external reader, and a dissertation coordinator. Each member must possess an earned doctorate based in part on a dissertation unless this requirement is waived by the Chair of the Depth Psychology Program.