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Charter College of Education
Betsy Perluss
Office: KH C4030
My full-time teaching career began in the fall of 2001 with the Charter College of Education in the Division of Administration and Counseling. I am a licensed marriage and family therapist and a credentialed school counselor. Prior to coming to CSULA, I worked in public school settings as a traditional school counselor and as a family therapist. I have a doctorate in Depth Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute. My interests are interdisciplinary, ranging from philosophy and religion to literature and art. I am particularly interested in how these disciplines intersect with, and inform, our understanding of human psychology. From a depth psychological perspective, cultural artifacts, ideas and beliefs can be viewed as symbolic manifestations of deep-rooted psychic content. I am also on staff with the School of Lost Borders, a training center for wilderness rites of passage, located in Big Pine, CA. This work is one of my greatest pleasures and it has provided invaluable sources of insight into my understanding of human nature, as well as into the often forgotten, but fundamental, human relationship with nature.
Although I teach a wide variety of counseling courses, my goal for each class is similar: to facilitate critical thinking and promote self-directed learning. I imagine education as an avenue to greater self-awareness, self-respect, and thus, to more meaningful community participation. I particularly enjoy teaching human development as this course provides ample opportunity to explore the nature of cognitive, social and moral development, and how these concepts can be applied to our personal and professional lives. I believe that dialogue within a supportive environment is essential to good learning, and therefore, I integrate “council” into my teaching. Within this model, students are free to speak their ideas without being trapped in the dichotomous “I’m right/you're wrong” paradigm. Council allows ideas from diverse perspectives to be spoken freely resulting in non-judgmental understanding of self and others. Council has been practiced in many situations, in all levels of education, and is a model program at Palm’s Middle School in Los Angeles Unified School District.
Currently, I am working on a book on psyche and landscape. This work weaves together insights from depth psychology, ecopsychology, nature literature, and wilderness experiences. For more information see my personal website at Psyche and Nature. Representative Professional Activities
Ph.D. Depth Psychology 2004 M.S. Counseling 1991 B.A. Religious Studies 1984
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Pacifica Graduate Institute