- Pacifica Graduate Institute

California is facing a severe behavioral workforce shortage health crisis. Underserved communities are finding it more and more difficult to access quality mental health treatment, while mental health service providers are facing a shortage of qualified therapists and mental health support professionals to meet the growing needs of local communities. Many factors contribute to this crisis, from social injustice to housing costs. However, there is one simple and necessary solution: training more qualified therapists and mental health support professionals committed to living in California, meeting the mental health needs of underserved communities, and providing preventative psychological instruction for our youth and educators.

Pacifica Graduate Institute is responding to California’s mental health crisis with the Pacifica Promise initiative. Pacifica Promise embodies our institution’s mission to “tend the soul of the world.” It provides a comprehensive approach—outlined in the initiative pillars—to educating youth, teachers, community health workers, and future therapists and support professionals in psychotherapeutic care who will be equipped and supported to understand and address mental illness from a depth psychological perspective.

“Pacifica Promise from a depth psychological perspective by the soul’s imperative to that we move into unknown and unacknowledged areas. This is where must face what we have denied or marginalized and where a wealth of life and depth resides—the soil that wholeness is rooted in and from whence it grows. Wholeness, therefore, demands the inclusion of what we’ve excluded—recognizing its belonging and equal, rightful place. Attending to the marginalized, the excluded, and the underprivileged in our communities is something Pacifica must do if, as an institution, we aim to live up to our vision of soul and wholeness.”

— Dylan Francisco, Ph.D.
Co-Chair and Assistant Professor in the Jungian and Archetypal Studies M.A./Ph.D. program.

SUPPORT PACIFICA PROMISE PROGRAM

Pacifica Promise Program is a fiscal sponsorship fund of the Santa Barbara Foundation.

Statistics
Depth Psychology

Statistics

California’s mental health crisis is severe and deeply rooted in systemic inequities. Nearly one in four Californians experience or know someone close to them who has needed treated for serious mental illness (California Health Care Foundation, 2024). Yet, the state is projected to face a shortage of 25,000 licensed mental health professionals by 2028 (UCOP, California Psychiatry Workforce Challenges, 2020). This shortage disproportionately impacts vulnerable populations, including youth, LGBTQ+ individuals, and communities of color. For example, 40% of youth report significant mental health struggles, but school-based counseling services remain scarce (California Department of Public Health, 2022). LGBTQ+ youth are four times more likely to attempt suicide than their peers, yet access to affirming care is severely limited (Trevor Project, 2023). Meanwhile, Latinos, who comprise 39% of California’s population, represent only 5% of licensed psychologists nationwide (American Psychological Association, 2023). These disparities are compounded by 2030 nearly 20% of Californians will be age 65 or older (Public Policy of California, 2015). These gaps underscore a fractured system in urgent need of a more equitable, accessible, and culturally responsive mental health workforce.

Nearly one in seven adults and one in twenty-six individuals face a severe mental illness that makes it difficult to carry out daily activities, and only one-third of individuals grappling with mental health conditions have the necessary support. In contrast, one in fourteen children has an emotional disturbance that limits functioning in family, school, or community activities. This scarcity of access arises from a growing shortage of behavioral and mental health professionals, with rural areas, linguistically and ethnically diverse communities, and LGBTQ+ populations disproportionately affected (California Health Care Foundation, 2022).

Pacifica Graduate Institute has from its beginnings offered innovated education to populations often excluded from mainstream academia. Only recently has higher education recognized that education must be adaptive to the life circumstances and learning styles of students. Pacifica has been modelling this adaptivity in its delivery of higher education, making education accessible and inclusive to non-traditional learners. Pacifica Promise continues Pacifica’s responsiveness to current societal circumstances and challenges—specifically in relationship to the mental health needs of an underserved population that has found mental health services difficult to access and built on models of delivery that are culturally alienating and non-inclusive of economically disadvantaged, non-western, minority, and indigenous psychological needs.

Depth Psychology

Depth psychology is a unique approach to psychological well-being encompassed by the word “soul.” Soul signifies everything that makes a person unique and whole—a deeper reality that gives our lives significance and meaning. Academic psychology and mainstream mental health care have excluded soul in the name of science, a reductionistic approach to understanding mental health that focuses on behavior, emotion, and thought without taking into consideration the values and sacred purpose required to be a thriving human with a reason to live, grow, transform, and contribute to society.

Intangible realities like love, belonging, meaning, imagination, creativity, and spirituality have concrete implications for mental health—often the difference between life and death—but cannot be captured in an experiment or measured materially. The question is whether we privilege a scientific approach that excludes realities necessary to psychological well-being or whether we privilege psychological well-being and utilize whatever serves it—even if this involves considering what cannot be correlated with a statistical graph. Depth psychology takes the latter approach. This doesn’t make it less than scientific; it makes it more than scientific. Depth psychology doesn’t demand less of those entrusted with the mental health care of individuals and communities; it demands more.

What this entails is that depth psychologically trained therapists and support professionals recognize that the mental health crisis needs more than a catastrophic intervention that reduces suffering and symptoms. While this is critical, reducing suffering and symptoms does not necessarily mean that someone is psychologically well. It can mean that an individual has learned how to numb, repress, and rationalize away the root causes of their distress.

True psychological well-being isn’t expressed in the absence of problems, but in the presence of consciousness—an awareness not just of what we like about ourselves but also of what we hate, what we can’t admit, and what we run from. Only by deepening into all that we are—the good, the bad, the beautiful—is it possible to be authentic, resilient, and capable of facing and embracing life. This is the vision at the heart of Pacifica Promise, a vision for psychological well-being that doesn’t just treat mental illness but heals self-alienation and addresses suffering with soul—with everything that makes us want to live well and live meaningfully in human community and caring reciprocity with the natural world.

The fulfillment of any holistic vision requires collaboration. Pacifica Promise isn’t just about an outcome of mental health but about living the process and modeling the values of psychological well-being in the community—through a joint effort of financial donors, service providers, educators, and students. By implementing Pacifica Promise’s multifaceted approach, we will transform mental health education and care in the Central Coast region, embodying our commitment to ensuring accessibility, affordability, and cultivating a more inclusive and conscious society.

FAQs

What is the Pacifica Promise Program?

The Pacifica Promise Program is a ten-year commitment by the Pacifica Graduate Institute to transform mental health education and care on the Central Coast of California by cultivating new practitioners through a scholarship program, educational initiatives, and community care efforts. Our vision is to make depth psychological education, research, and services universally accessible for little to no cost.

What motivated the creation of the Pacifica Promise Program?

The Pacifica Promise Program initiative is a direct response to feedback from the Pacifica community and external members revealing barriers to education, lack of diversity in the workforce, limited access to services in underserved communities, and lack of access to grant research funding.

What are the goals of the Pacifica Promise Program?

Rooted in Pacifica Graduate Institute’s commitment to depth psychological education and research, the Pacifica Promise Program’s goals include broadening and offering support to the mental health workforce on the central coast, providing financial assistance to underserved students, and cultivating strategic partnerships to deliver impactful solutions tailored to the Central Coast’s needs.

When does the Pacifica Promise Program launch?

The Pacifica Promise Program campaign will be launched in 2025. Students will be eligible to apply once the funding goals have been met.

How do I apply for the Pacifica Promise Program?

Information on applying for the Pacifica Promise Program will be featured in the coming months. Please stay tuned for more information. If you have questions, please contact soulpromise@pacifica.edu.

How does Pacifica plan to expand the mental and behavioral health workforce?

The program seeks to design training and continuing education opportunities that equip practitioners with advanced skills and foster cultural responsiveness in mental health care. It also aims to develop seamless educational pipelines that support students from youth exploration to undergraduate and graduate studies, ensuring equitable access to mental health careers.

What professional development programs are offered through the Pacifica Promise Program?

Pacifica Extension and International Studies will offer stackable certificates from professional development to personal enrichment to equip learners to change their world. Courses include Astrology and Mythology, Psychology and Counseling, Writing and Research, Leadership and Transformation, Women in Psychology, Integrative Therapies, Arts-Based Research, Introduction to Depth Psychology, and Specialized Certification in Joseph Campbell Studies.

How does Pacifica plan to build a diverse faculty?

Pacifica Extension and International Studies will partner with faculty, alumni, and local experts to develop a graduate certificate program for qualified professionals. This program will target individuals with a graduate degree and teaching experience in relevant areas.

How can organizations or foundations contribute to the Pacifica Promise Program?

Organizations or foundations can contribute by providing financial support or grants and establishing partnerships with the Pacifica Promise Program. Excitingly, the Pacifica Promise Program secured fiscal sponsorship through the Santa Barbara Foundation, marking a transformative step toward strategic partnerships and funding goals.

A live, tax-deductible donation page, inviting contributions to bring the Pacifica Promise Program vision to life can be found HERE.

For more information on potential collaborations and partnerships, please contact soulpromise@pacifica.edu

Who is eligible for the Pacifica Promise Program?

The Pacifica Promise Program is open to s who meet specific income requirements, are interested in enrolling in or currently enrolled in a clinical or counseling psychology master’s program or graduate certificate and reside in the Central Coast region of California. Pacifica recognizes that unforeseen or special circumstances may impact a student’s eligibility or participation in the program. In such cases, applicants are encouraged to submit a written request detailing their circumstances for additional consideration. Further information about eligibility requirements and the application process will be provided shortly.

What expenses does the Pacifica Promise Program cover?

Pacifica Promise Program covers the cost of tuition and residential fees and up to the full cost of tuition based on financial need. The semesters must be taken consecutively within three years, and eligibility must be maintained. Tuition and mandatory fees will be covered by scholarships, grants, and tuition donations raised through this program.