Holistic Studies at John F. Kennedy University

John F. Kennedy University is a leader in holistic studies education, attracting students committed to personal and global transformation. Our graduates maintain that uncovering their "authentic selves" and finding their "life's work" are the most profound outcomes of their JFK experience. Finding the connection between inner reality, self-discovery and work in the world is the heart of Holistic Studies.

The School of Holistic Studies is a vital and challenging community that supports deep personal, spiritual and academic inquiry. It is one that supports the development of greater awareness and tolerance, sustaining people as they stretch, grow stronger and become more whole. The School of Holistic Studies affirms the uniqueness of each individual, while helping students discover the universal dimensions of culture identity.

Arts & Consciousness: The Department of Arts and Consciousness (A&C) helps students deepen their understanding of creativity as spirit, thought and process. Through an innovative combination of academic, technical and experiential courses, faculty members facilitate this awareness. This community of artists, formed by faculty and students, is dedicated to a common vision:

As artists, we create objects and events that alter and enrich human consciousness. As teachers, we help our students discover their own, most profound sources of creativity and life. As healers, we use creativity and passion to promote well-being. We help the world by discovering and expressing the sacred within ourselves.

The Department of Arts and Consciousness helps students go farther into the deepest levels of consciousness, and then return to the world of phenomenon and social interaction with new tools for change. This journey between the inner and the outer is the essence of Arts and Consciousness.

A&C promotes dialogue about how art can reestablish itself as a central activity in human existence. Students and faculty discuss artwork not only in formal terms but in terms of transformation and inner awareness. Artists in the outside community and our students come together to create new ways for art to exist. The Arts and Consciousness Department is a place where change occurs—where we learn to create a new reality and a new culture.

Programs in Arts and Consciousness: Master of Fine Arts in Studio Arts and Master of Arts in Transformative Arts Mentorships

A&C students often choose to work with specially selected artists and organizations in the Bay Area. These mentorships are an integral part of the A&C curriculum. Students can explore a broader range of technical and professional perspectives than would be possible in a more traditional academic environment.

Counseling Psychology: The Graduate School for Holistic Studies offers an innovative master's degree in counseling psychology that meets the educational requirements for the California Marriage and Family Therapist (MFT) license. This unique counseling program features specializations in Somatic Psychology, Transpersonal Psychology and Holistic Studies. This degree program is designed for students interested in working psychotherapeutically with individuals, couples, families and groups.

The counseling psychology curriculum provides solid academic training in counseling skills, while also strongly emphasizing self-exploration, personal growth, and the integration of body, mind and spirit. Along with the coursework in each of the specializations, the curriculum includes coursework in the areas of:

• Marriage and family counseling
• Child therapy
• Cross-cultural issues
• Addiction studies
• Individual development
• Diagnosis and assessment
• Group process
• Effective communication

Students work with professionals in the field who stress academic excellence while providing them with the means to pursue their own process of intellectual, somatic, emotional, psychological and spiritual integration.

The program requires students to be in psychotherapy for at least 12 months, preferably with a transpersonally or somatically oriented therapist. Students are also asked to develop a daily consciousness discipline, such as meditation, yoga or other method that develops the ability to center attention, quiet the mind and experience the mind-body-spirit connection.

The M.A. in Counseling Psychology with a specialization in Transpersonal Psychology (Pleasant Hill campus only): Transpersonal psychology seeks to understand and address the integration of the whole person—body, mind, emotion and spirit. In doing so, the field draws on the world's spiritual traditions, mythology, consciousness studies and traditional psychological theory.

The M.A. in Counseling Psychology with a specialization in Somatic Psychology (Pleasant Hill campus only): Somatic Psychology is based on the principle that the body-mind is truly one process and that the practice of psychotherapy involves the whole person. Somatic Psychology looks at the interactions and intersections of mind-body functioning with a value on integration and the healing of splits, fragmentation and isolations within the human whole.

The M.A. in Counseling Psychology with a specialization in Holistic Studies (Campbell campus only): Holistic Studies integrates the somatic and transpersonal psychology perspectives into one innovative program.

Field Placement: After completing their coursework, students undertake a year-long field placement at the school's Center for Holistic Counseling or at an approved external site in the Bay Area. Students at the center receive extensive training in clinical skills, while working with individuals, children, couples, families and groups under the supervision of experienced, licensed therapists. They have ample opportunity to share their clinical experiences with other trainees and to receive professional feedback from skilled practitioners.

Certificate in Dream Studies: We spend one-third of our lives sleeping and one-third of that time dreaming. Throughout human history, dreams have been shown to be an important vehicle in problem solving, creativity, self-growth and spiritual inspiration. This program offers students a chance to explore this vital part of human existence—the inner worlds of dreams.

The Certificate in Dream Studies is a pioneering program for an accredited university. The program is designed for students and professionals who desire to work with and explore dreams for use in education, research, consulting and writing.