Edhat Op-Ed: Has Evangelical Influence Taken Over Pacifica Graduate Institute?

For nearly 50 years, Pacifica Graduate Institute (PGI) has been both a college offering graduate-degree programs in counseling and clinical psychology leading to board licensure, and an institute of depth psychology, alchemy and every-day magic, akin to Hogwarts for Harry Potter and his allies. Students study creative arts-based and somatic therapy methods, traditional psychotherapeutic theory, healing arts, mythology and archetypal, liberation and eco-psychologies on two beautiful campuses in Carpinteria/Summerland, close to the Pacific ocean, the Institute’s name sake.

For decades, PHD students, Dream Tenders, and Retreat program participants could be seen wandering the labyrinths barefoot, chatting about dreams, numinous synchronicities, and esoteric ideas. But since the founders and the last President, Jungian Scholar Dr. Joseph Cambray, retired, much has been neglected by the current administration. This includes the life-sustaining gardens, retreat programs for anyone in the world to attend, faculty requests for better pay and benefits, and the world-renowned Opus Archives. Opus contains the works of Marion Woodman, Christine Downing, mythologist Joseph Campbell and “The Soul’s Code author James Hillman, to name a few.

All of this bounty is now being threatened by a new CEO and President.  Dr. Leonie Mattison is a self proclaimed “Born-Again Christian,” Seventh Day Adventist, and non-ordained minister. Mattison. So are several Trustees, including Richard Osborn, who was serving as the President of the conservative Seventh Day Adventist college (La Sierra) at the same time he was on Pacifica’s Board of Trustees in 2022. They are allegedly jeopardizing PGI’s original mission and contracts with graduate students. They are being accused of wanting to make Pacifica into an online degree mill, for tens of thousands of low-income minorities, according to Mattison’s abundant interviews and her 2025-2030 Strategic Plan, which was approved by the Board in 2023. On the cover of it is a seal that differs from Pacifica’s official seal: she changed the alchemical image of a winged snake to that of a cross on a tree. This was made with AI, which the President/CEO champions often. This plan not emailed to students until this June, as the letter from the Pacifica Graduate Institute Alumni Association whistleblowers to the Pacifica Board of Trustees on July 1 notes, in the very same email where she “too cheerfully” announced the leaving of two Beloved Co-Chairs of the Counseling Psychology, D. Matthew Bennett and Jemma Elliot, much to the shock and dismay of hundreds of students and faculty.

Aside from this being a radical departure from Pacifica’s mission, the focus on giving 1500 scholarships to minorities and hiring “diverse faculty” — whom many worry will not be qualified to teach Depth Psychology—also violates California’s anti-Affirmative Action laws. While diversifying is an important goal, so is making sure no one is excluded and that academic excellence continues to drive college admissions. Marginalization of some ethnic and religious groups over others in the name of “diversity” is an ongoing problem at Pacifica, and on colleges nationwide. (Recently, the regents at California’s public universities have banned Occupations and face masks due to the threats against Jewish students.)

These allegations of a hostile environment having been created because of proselytizing and personal financial gain are not just deeply disturbing, but also an indication of a massive conflict of interest in an institution that particularly trains therapists in CA Board of Psychology licensing standards AND Jungian-based psychotherapeutic modalities, which foster individualized spiritual inquiry informed by dreams, imaginings and creative works.

Dogmatic, patriarchal church doctrine is completely antithetical to the very fabric of Pacifica Institute, which stands on the foundation that is secular and inclusive. It is unconscionable that anyone beholden to a sect of Christianity that many Christians themselves consider to be a cult would have been hired to be at the helm of an institute with a mission and history such as Pacifica’s. On dozens of Dr. Mattison’s social media posts, she has published Pacifica’s logos and name, while almost making exclusionary remarks about believers in Jesus, and selling her Born-Again ministry materials —all at the same time. There is even one post where she and the Chair of the Board of Trustees —who insisted on hiring her after receiving only a few resumes— introduces the new Vice President of Pacifica, who will serve in Human Resources as the Culture, Diversity and Belonging Director, and she writes, “With God, all things are possible to those who believe.”

Since July 1, the letters, and initial petition penned by the majority of Counseling students, faculty and the Pacifica Graduate Alumni Association, allege that a hostile environment is proliferating.

Stakeholders claim they are suffering from manipulative rhetorical pressure to convert and pray to Jesus, often in situations they cannot escape, from meetings to graduation to formal speeches Dr. Mattison gives to podcasts they participate in. Now that alumni, students, faculty, and staff are becoming aware her “The Thread” system is not merely a Mentoring program, as first presented, but actually her evangelical ministry materials, being subjected to them feels abusive and traumatizing to many.

Faculty report feeling intimidated and a “chilling effect” on Free Speech since favorite Chairs and Staff were forced to step down, and then attempts were made by the President to “cover up” and “positively spin” the dark and depressing truth. One such faculty member who is prepared to release emails between the Chair of the Board and the faculty who complained, was so afraid of their identity being revealed in an interview, they kept repeating, “It is so bad here… it is beyond bad… we are being threatened with firing if we speak up against her.”

This faculty member revealed that Dr. Mattison makes anyone who wants to communicate with the board share the information with her first in a PowerPoint presentation; she censors out what she wants, and tells faculty they cannot add anything she hasn’t vetted: “This is the way she controls all information that goes to the Board of Trustees,” according to the faculty member.

The Trustees have not been involved in daily operations and there seems to be little oversight. Aside from Dr. Richard Osborn, two others with impressive resumes who have been installed on the Board of Trustees since Dr. Mattison’s hiring are also evangelicals. Their church involvement is not disclosed on PGI’s website. In a recent Pacific Business Times Article, Dr. Mattison is cited to have claimed in an interview that she is intentionally “disrupting higher education” and “reinventing psychology”, even though she does not have a single Psychology degree. Is it any wonder that students, faculty and administrators are freaking out? As one respondent to letters about this wrote on the Pacifica Graduate Alumni Association website, “How in the world could the Board have hired and approved Christian fundamentalists to run this school? It’s unimaginable.”

Hundreds of students and faculty are questioning if the President/CEO’s plans for radical change benefit the leaderships’ churches and also the President’s own fiscal sponsor, the EYC, more than the current students or the field of Depth Psychology. One alumni pointed out, “Given the stance Seventh Day Adventists take towards “New Age Spirituality”, which describes the interests and practices of most at Pacifica, we fear they will either turn this into a Christian college or run it into the ground, rather than let the freedom of religion proliferate here for non-Christians.”

According to a petition released last week by alums and elders, “We are deeply concerned of how her conflation of Depth Psychology with Christianity, and the platform of the Presidency with her personal LLC/ministry materials, as she has marketed her unproved plans for change at a rapid pace, is damaging the field of Depth and Jungian Psychology. We demand a full investigation into all fiscal sponsorships and contracts the President/CEO made since being hired, and that the Pacifica Soul Promise be shelved until and unless it has been vetted and revamped by all stakeholders and outside legal experts, to ensure it legality; that it is in alignment with Pacifica’s current mission, vision and departmental goals, and not to the detriment or demise of them. We also believe it is prudent for an audit by outside experts of the CEO’s expense account and how time on the clock was allocated. We call for annual audits there after of all Executive Leadership, with the results being made transparent, at least to all stockholders of this ‘Employee Owned’ Institute.”

Students and faculty are also claiming that the President and Board of Trustees are using the stringent “Codes of Conduct” in the Student/Faculty Handbooks to silence them, but that most codes violate US and California Constitutional Protections. Even though Pacifica is a Private college, since it receives Federal funding, it must adhere to most of the same laws as Public universities. Silencing shareholders also violates Pacifica’s own stated values of shared governance, open inquiry and free speech.
As the situation unfolds, the question remains: Has Pacifica Graduate Institute, a sanctuary for depth psychology and soul, been overtaken by those who seek to mold it into something entirely different, to satisfy their own pet projects or desire to put profit over fulfilling promises to students? At the time of the writing of this article, 70 stakeholders have signed the second petition calling for the President/CEO’s immediate resignation. 335 have signed the first petition called for investigation and retention of the Counseling Co-Chairs.

For a real college that is often compared to “Hogwarts”, this is akin to Muggles taking over the administration, and forbidding the practice of magic, because it is considered by religious conservatives to be the work of the Devil. But neither Pacifica Graduate alums, faculty nor prior administrators who have almost fifty years of stellar accomplishments “Tending Soul In and of the World” are going to let this happen. They have been serving local, national and international communities by nurturing soul-driven creative and imaginative practices and discoveries for decades, and are leaders in the Depth and Jungian Psychology disciplines. They are not about to let their precious institute fall permanently to the dark side of religion or politics.

# # #
Amy Katz is an Investigative Photojournalist, Intercultural Communication Instructor, Intuitive Counselor (Psychic), Discourse Analyst, and former Pacifica Graduate Institute graduate student. She has been attending public programs in Depth Psychology there for twenty years.

For nearly 50 years, Pacifica Graduate Institute (PGI) has been both a college offering graduate-degree programs in counseling and clinical psychology leading to board licensure, and an institute of depth psychology, alchemy and every-day magic, akin to Hogwarts for Harry Potter and his allies. Students study creative arts-based and somatic therapy methods, traditional psychotherapeutic theory, healing arts, mythology and archetypal, liberation and eco-psychologies on two beautiful campuses in Carpinteria/Summerland, close to the Pacific ocean, the Institute’s name sake.

For decades, PHD students, Dream Tenders, and Retreat program participants could be seen wandering the labyrinths barefoot, chatting about dreams, numinous synchronicities, and esoteric ideas. But since the founders and the last President, Jungian Scholar Dr. Joseph Cambray, retired, much has been neglected by the current administration. This includes the life-sustaining gardens, retreat programs for anyone in the world to attend, faculty requests for better pay and benefits, and the world-renowned Opus Archives. Opus contains the works of Marion Woodman, Christine Downing, mythologist Joseph Campbell and “The Soul’s Code author James Hillman, to name a few.

All of this bounty is now being threatened by a new CEO and President.  Dr. Leonie Mattison is a self proclaimed “Born-Again Christian,” Seventh Day Adventist, and non-ordained minister. Mattison. So are several Trustees, including Richard Osborn, who was serving as the President of the conservative Seventh Day Adventist college (La Sierra) at the same time he was on Pacifica’s Board of Trustees in 2022. They are allegedly jeopardizing PGI’s original mission and contracts with graduate students. They are being accused of wanting to make Pacifica into an online degree mill, for tens of thousands of low-income minorities, according to Mattison’s abundant interviews and her 2025-2030 Strategic Plan, which was approved by the Board in 2023. On the cover of it is a seal that differs from Pacifica’s official seal: she changed the alchemical image of a winged snake to that of a cross on a tree. This was made with AI, which the President/CEO champions often. This plan not emailed to students until this June, as the letter from the Pacifica Graduate Institute Alumni Association whistleblowers to the Pacifica Board of Trustees on July 1 notes, in the very same email where she “too cheerfully” announced the leaving of two Beloved Co-Chairs of the Counseling Psychology, D. Matthew Bennett and Jemma Elliot, much to the shock and dismay of hundreds of students and faculty.

Aside from this being a radical departure from Pacifica’s mission, the focus on giving 1500 scholarships to minorities and hiring “diverse faculty” — whom many worry will not be qualified to teach Depth Psychology—also violates California’s anti-Affirmative Action laws. While diversifying is an important goal, so is making sure no one is excluded and that academic excellence continues to drive college admissions. Marginalization of some ethnic and religious groups over others in the name of “diversity” is an ongoing problem at Pacifica, and on colleges nationwide. (Recently, the regents at California’s public universities have banned Occupations and face masks due to the threats against Jewish students.)

These allegations of a hostile environment having been created because of proselytizing and personal financial gain are not just deeply disturbing, but also an indication of a massive conflict of interest in an institution that particularly trains therapists in CA Board of Psychology licensing standards AND Jungian-based psychotherapeutic modalities, which foster individualized spiritual inquiry informed by dreams, imaginings and creative works.

Dogmatic, patriarchal church doctrine is completely antithetical to the very fabric of Pacifica Institute, which stands on the foundation that is secular and inclusive. It is unconscionable that anyone beholden to a sect of Christianity that many Christians themselves consider to be a cult would have been hired to be at the helm of an institute with a mission and history such as Pacifica’s. On dozens of Dr. Mattison’s social media posts, she has published Pacifica’s logos and name, while almost making exclusionary remarks about believers in Jesus, and selling her Born-Again ministry materials —all at the same time. There is even one post where she and the Chair of the Board of Trustees —who insisted on hiring her after receiving only a few resumes— introduces the new Vice President of Pacifica, who will serve in Human Resources as the Culture, Diversity and Belonging Director, and she writes, “With God, all things are possible to those who believe.”

Since July 1, the letters, and initial petition penned by the majority of Counseling students, faculty and the Pacifica Graduate Alumni Association, allege that a hostile environment is proliferating.

Stakeholders claim they are suffering from manipulative rhetorical pressure to convert and pray to Jesus, often in situations they cannot escape, from meetings to graduation to formal speeches Dr. Mattison gives to podcasts they participate in. Now that alumni, students, faculty, and staff are becoming aware her “The Thread” system is not merely a Mentoring program, as first presented, but actually her evangelical ministry materials, being subjected to them feels abusive and traumatizing to many.

Faculty report feeling intimidated and a “chilling effect” on Free Speech since favorite Chairs and Staff were forced to step down, and then attempts were made by the President to “cover up” and “positively spin” the dark and depressing truth. One such faculty member who is prepared to release emails between the Chair of the Board and the faculty who complained, was so afraid of their identity being revealed in an interview, they kept repeating, “It is so bad here… it is beyond bad… we are being threatened with firing if we speak up against her.”

This faculty member revealed that Dr. Mattison makes anyone who wants to communicate with the board share the information with her first in a PowerPoint presentation; she censors out what she wants, and tells faculty they cannot add anything she hasn’t vetted: “This is the way she controls all information that goes to the Board of Trustees,” according to the faculty member.

The Trustees have not been involved in daily operations and there seems to be little oversight. Aside from Dr. Richard Osborn, two others with impressive resumes who have been installed on the Board of Trustees since Dr. Mattison’s hiring are also evangelicals. Their church involvement is not disclosed on PGI’s website. In a recent Pacific Business Times Article, Dr. Mattison is cited to have claimed in an interview that she is intentionally “disrupting higher education” and “reinventing psychology”, even though she does not have a single Psychology degree. Is it any wonder that students, faculty and administrators are freaking out? As one respondent to letters about this wrote on the Pacifica Graduate Alumni Association website, “How in the world could the Board have hired and approved Christian fundamentalists to run this school? It’s unimaginable.”

Hundreds of students and faculty are questioning if the President/CEO’s plans for radical change benefit the leaderships’ churches and also the President’s own fiscal sponsor, the EYC, more than the current students or the field of Depth Psychology. One alumni pointed out, “Given the stance Seventh Day Adventists take towards “New Age Spirituality”, which describes the interests and practices of most at Pacifica, we fear they will either turn this into a Christian college or run it into the ground, rather than let the freedom of religion proliferate here for non-Christians.”

According to a petition released last week by alums and elders, “We are deeply concerned of how her conflation of Depth Psychology with Christianity, and the platform of the Presidency with her personal LLC/ministry materials, as she has marketed her unproved plans for change at a rapid pace, is damaging the field of Depth and Jungian Psychology. We demand a full investigation into all fiscal sponsorships and contracts the President/CEO made since being hired, and that the Pacifica Soul Promise be shelved until and unless it has been vetted and revamped by all stakeholders and outside legal experts, to ensure it legality; that it is in alignment with Pacifica’s current mission, vision and departmental goals, and not to the detriment or demise of them. We also believe it is prudent for an audit by outside experts of the CEO’s expense account and how time on the clock was allocated. We call for annual audits there after of all Executive Leadership, with the results being made transparent, at least to all stockholders of this ‘Employee Owned’ Institute.”

Students and faculty are also claiming that the President and Board of Trustees are using the stringent “Codes of Conduct” in the Student/Faculty Handbooks to silence them, but that most codes violate US and California Constitutional Protections. Even though Pacifica is a Private college, since it receives Federal funding, it must adhere to most of the same laws as Public universities. Silencing shareholders also violates Pacifica’s own stated values of shared governance, open inquiry and free speech.
As the situation unfolds, the question remains: Has Pacifica Graduate Institute, a sanctuary for depth psychology and soul, been overtaken by those who seek to mold it into something entirely different, to satisfy their own pet projects or desire to put profit over fulfilling promises to students? At the time of the writing of this article, 70 stakeholders have signed the second petition calling for the President/CEO’s immediate resignation. 335 have signed the first petition called for investigation and retention of the Counseling Co-Chairs.

For a real college that is often compared to “Hogwarts”, this is akin to Muggles taking over the administration, and forbidding the practice of magic, because it is considered by religious conservatives to be the work of the Devil. But neither Pacifica Graduate alums, faculty nor prior administrators who have almost fifty years of stellar accomplishments “Tending Soul In and of the World” are going to let this happen. They have been serving local, national and international communities by nurturing soul-driven creative and imaginative practices and discoveries for decades, and are leaders in the Depth and Jungian Psychology disciplines. They are not about to let their precious institute fall permanently to the dark side of religion or politics.

# # #

Amy Katz is an Investigative Photojournalist, Intercultural Communication Instructor, Intuitive Counselor (Psychic), Discourse Analyst, and former Pacifica Graduate Institute graduate student. She has been attending public programs in Depth Psychology there for twenty years.