This certificate program explores the intersection of depth psychology and Marianismo, the cultural ideal of feminine virtue in Latina/Chicana communities modeled after the Virgin Mary. Through Jungian, archetypal, and feminist depth psychological lenses, participants will examine how Marianismo shapes identity, family dynamics, spirituality, and psychological wholeness for Latinas across generations.
Individual Session Descriptions:
Week 1: Foundations of Depth Psychology and Cultural Archetypes
Instructor: Sandra del Castillo, Ph.D. (Beginning with a 30-minute All Faculty Welcome Panel)
Live zoom session: Thursday July 23, 2026, 12:00 – 2:00pm PT
- Jung’s model of the psyche: ego, shadow, anima/animus, Self
- Archetypal patterns and their cultural expressions
- The redemptive role of myth, symbol, and ritual in psychological development
- Cultural complexes in Latina/Chicana communities And a myth!
Week 2: Marianismo Historical, Cultural, and Spiritual Roots
Instructor: Sandra del Castillo, Ph.D.
Live zoom session: Thursday July 30, 2026, 12:00 – 1:30pm PT
- Guadalupe/Tonantzin: Her story: a kairos moment
- Syncretism, cultural identity
- The Inquisition, “intra-psychic split,” and the Shadow
- “good” woman ideal: self-sacrifice, purity, and maternal devotion
- Marianismo Machismo: complementary cultural scripts as liberating force
- Generational transmission of Marianismo values
Week 3: The Shadow Side of Marianismo
Instructor: Cynthia Perez, LCSW
Live zoom session: August 6, 2026, 12:00 – 1:30pm PT
This week we acknowledge the Legacy Burdens of Marianismo and center the gender caste system of Latina women that tied them to an impossible comparison to The Virgin de Guadalupe/ The Virgin Mary. Rooted in colonialism by the forced indoctrination of Spanish Catholicism on the Indigenous People of the Americas, Marianismo became a coping belief that became a value, then a virtue passed down to daughters, and is now a behavior living in our autonomic nervous system passed down as intergenerational trauma.
This week we discuss the shadow side of Marianismo through its impact, symptoms and grief:
- The Roots of Collective trauma- colonization, migration, and cultural dislocation
- Un Susto Heredado- The Sacred Rage and Grief of Marianismo
- The Calladita Construct and the strive to be a “good daughter”
- The Gender Caste- Shame as a tool of colonization
- Exploitation of The Mother- Invisible Labor and Capitalism on the Backs of Las Mujeres
- The Burden of Perfection: anxiety, depression, and somatic symptoms
- The Nervous System of Marianismo
Week 4: Clinical Applications and Therapeutic Approaches
Instructor: Angelina Rodriguez, Ph. D.
Live zoom session: August 13, 2026, 12:00 – 1:30pm PT
Marianismo does not announce itself by name in the consulting room. It arrives as somatic exhaustion, silenced rage, devotion mistaken for depletion, and a profound difficulty of receiving care. This week we develop the clinical eye to recognize the complex and therapeutic tools to work with it responsibly. Drawing on Jungian analytical psychology, we examine four domains: assessment and clinical recognition; expressive arts and dreamwork as culturally resonant interventions; resistance rooted in cultural loyalty; and the ethical practice of supervision and cultural humility across differences. Both the recorded session and live Zoom move participants from conceptual grounding to clinical competence.
Week 5: Intersections of Identity: Exploring Womanhood
Instructor: Clara Oropeza, Ph. D.
Live zoom session: August 20, 2026, 12:00 – 1:30pm PT
In this module, we will discuss the impacts of Marianismo on individuation, creativity, and the maternal wound. To set the theoretical framework for this module, we will be reading the introduction of A Re-mapping of Womanhood and Creativity and Chapter 3. During the module, we will define individuation, matrilineal ancestry, and the maternal wound (daughterhood) in connection to creativity. We will discuss the impacts of a disconnection from a maternal heritage and also explore sisterhood.
Week 6: The Magic of Marianismo- Intuition, Embodiment, and Spiritual Empowerment
Cynthia Perez, LCSW
Live zoom session: August 27, 2026, 12:00 – 1:30pm PT
Marianismo has been generations of obligations and expectations for historically colonized Latina-Xicana-Diaspora, but they also survived through their legacy resources, the gifts passed down through remedios or genetic inheritance. This week is softening and un apapacho (Nahuatl word for “to embrace with one´s soul) for the generations of women who carried the mysticism of their powerful ancestors in their fingertips and the healing remedies in their intuition and traditions. We honor the epigenetic power of what grandmothers knew would provide protection, joy, abundance and connection:
- The Sacral Chakra Wound of Marianismo
- Internalized FOMO or the “Fear of Missing Out” as colonial spiritual isolation
- Spiritual Dismemberment and Reconnecting to Indigenous Medicine
- Polyvagal Theory- The Epigenetic Flow of Ancestral Innovation and Pleasure
- Glamour Magic and the Legacy Resources of Marianismo
- Pleasure and Creativity as Personal and Collective Liberation
- The Body as an Altar and other ceremonies to activate our magical Knowing
Week 7: Reclaiming La Malinche and Other Forbidden Archetypes
Instructor: Sandra del Castillo, Ph.D.
Live zoom session: Thursday September 3, 2026, 12:00 – 1:30pm PT
- La Malinche: traitor, translator, survivor, or an archetypal evolution?
- La Llorona: Colonizer archetype vs. Mesoamerican archetype
- Coatlicue, Mesoamerican Mother goddess
- Integrating “rejected” feminine aspects
Week 8: An Offering to Self: Freedom from Societal Conditioning
Instructor: Clara Oropeza, Ph. D.
Live zoom session: September 10, 2026, 12:00 – 1:30pm PT
In this module, we will focus on rewriting the narratives that keep us small and that help break harmful silences. We will read examples of liberating narratives to help inspire us to write our own.