Chinese Medicine and Depth Psychology - Microcredential

Growing up in Hong Kong, Chinese Medicine was part of my everyday life. It wasn't something I thought about intellectually as a child; it was simply how my family understood health and well-being. Alongside Chinese Medicine, I was introduced to Qigong by my father at a young age, learning that health was not only about the physical body but also about cultivating and balancing qi (氣), the vital life force that animates all living things.

Looking back, I can now see how profoundly those early experiences shaped my path. Years later, when I began studying Reiki, many of its principles already felt familiar. The Japanese understanding of ki shares its roots with the Chinese concept of qi (氣). While both cultures developed into distinct traditions with their own philosophies and methods, they both recognize the importance of working with the body's life energy and understanding health as a dynamic state of balance.

When I began my doctoral studies in Mythology and Depth Psychology at Pacifica Graduate Institute, I found myself returning once again to my own cultural heritage. One of the gifts of studying depth psychology has been discovering a language that allows me to bring my Chinese background into conversation with my academic work. Unlike clinical psychology, depth psychology approaches the human experience through mythology, dreams, religion, art, symbolism, and culture. It asks not only how we heal, but how we make meaning of our lives.

This perspective has profoundly influenced the way I understand Chinese Medicine. Rather than seeing it only as a medical tradition, I have come to appreciate it as an entire worldview. Concepts such as yin and yang and the Five Elements are not isolated theories about health; they arise from a cosmological understanding of the universe and humanity's relationship with nature. Chinese Medicine views the individual as part of a much larger living system, where physical, emotional, environmental, and spiritual life are deeply interconnected. This holistic vision resonates strongly with depth psychology, which likewise recognizes that the psyche cannot be understood apart from culture, mythology, and the symbolic world in which it lives.

Over the past year, these ideas have become deeply embodied. Following the Eaton Fire and the loss of my home, I returned to Chinese Medicine not simply as something I had grown up with, but as an essential part of my own healing journey. Alongside the other therapeutic approaches I work with, I began seeing Dr. Hui in Los Angeles's Chinatown (please feel free to private message me if you would like her information). Her care has supported me through profound grief, prolonged stress, weight gain, and the deep dysregulation that trauma can leave behind. At the same time, I was studying Chinese Medicine through Pacifica's Chinese Medicine and Depth Psychology course, where I found myself learning not only the symbolic reasoning behind the herbal formulas I was taking, but also concepts such as Shen (神), the spirit or heart-mind that integrates our inner life, Hun (魂), the ethereal soul associated with vision, creativity, and imagination, and Po (魄), the corporeal soul that grounds us in the wisdom of the body. As someone immersed in mythology and depth psychology, I was struck by how these ideas offered another symbolic language for understanding healing. Not simply as the relief of symptoms, but as restoring harmony between body, psyche, and spirit.

For that reason, Pacifica Graduate Institute's Chinese Medicine and Depth Psychology microcredential with Dr Brian Falk felt like an obvious course for me to take. Rather than introducing me to something entirely new, it brought together many threads of my life - my Chinese heritage, my Reiki practice, my doctoral research, and my own healing journey. It reminded me that some of the most meaningful learning happens when our personal experiences and academic studies begin speaking to one another.

While I am not a practitioner of Chinese Medicine, studying this tradition has enriched my work as a Reiki practitioner and expanded the way I think about healing. It continues to remind me that medicine, mythology, psychology, philosophy, and culture are not separate disciplines, but different ways of understanding what it means to be human.

Lastly, I want to write about how I truly appreciate Pacifica Graduate Institute and its commitment to making this kind of learning accessible beyond its graduate degree programs. Through Pacifica Extension & International Studies, the institute offers microcredentials, certificate programs, conferences, and continuing education courses that allow the public to learn from Pacifica faculty without enrolling in a full master's or doctoral program. These offerings are not a replacement for the depth and rigor of a graduate degree, but they provide a wonderful opportunity for lifelong learners and professionals to explore specialized subjects in meaningful depth. If you'd like to learn more, you can visit https://extension.pacifica.edu/.

Now...back to my dissertation.

Jaclyn