The modern field of Depth Psychology originated in the work of Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud, two visionaries who called attention to the importance of what lies below the surface of conscious awareness.

This dimension of psychic reality is revealed in literature, the expressive arts of different cultures, dreams, and in the collective symptoms suffered by individuals and societies. Concepts at the core of depth psychology are central to Pacifica's degree programs. Ideas such as the importance of image, metaphor, and psyche in personal and cultural expression, and the interplay between the aesthetics of the natural world and the human experience, are deeply ingrained the Institute's curricula.