SOUL-CENTERED LIVING I
A 10-Month Certificate Program in Spiritual Psychology Online
Facilitated by
USM: Educating for Wisdom
Like each of us, the world of education is evolving. In each era, institutions of higher learning have brought forward new paradigms of thought and practice to assist the world in overcoming the challenges of the times. And so, for hundreds of years, institutions of higher learning have been operating within the paradigm of Knowledge, meaning the acquisition of information, in service to fueling passages marked by monikers like the “Industrial Age” and the “Information Age.”
As we look around the world today, it is evident that a new paradigm of thought and practice is needed. If, at any moment, we turn on our televisions or our social feeds, we may witness the devastation of wildfires in one part of the world, the bellowing of oil into the sea in another, the refugees of a war in yet another, and economic instability seemingly everywhere. Is what the world needs at this juncture more knowledge? Or might now be the time for a new paradigm that heralds the transcendent and healing power of Wisdom, which is the result of converting our human experience into an elevated awareness and knowing?
Would it be in service to humanity for there to be an institution of higher learning whose purpose was not to equip students with more knowledge but to provide them with opportunities for the healing and transformation of their own consciousness, along with principles and practices that empower them to make a meaningful contribution in their world?
“My hope and wish is that one day, formal education will pay attention to what I call ‘education of the heart.’”
It Starts Within You
For more than 35 years, the University of Santa Monica has offered pioneering experiential educational Programs in Spiritual Psychology supporting more than 6,000 graduates in Awakening more fully into the Awareness of who they truly are while living more in harmony with their life purpose as they take action, making a meaningful contribution in their world.
It has been said, a tree is known by its fruit. USM is known by its graduates who are a multitude of living, breathing, Awakening Souls, many of whom are committed not just to the transformation of themselves but to the transformation of their world as well.
How does this transformation and Awakening occur? What kind of educational process catalyzes empowerment within its students and graduates creating a transformational ripple effect throughout the world?
The educational paradigm the University of Santa Monica brings forward is both radical and simple.
The transformed world you seek around you can only emerge by first transforming the world within you. That world is your own consciousness.
For four decades, USM students and graduates have discovered their own answers to life’s essential questions and are using their transformation in consciousness to actively transform the worlds of business, medicine, media, coaching, counseling, law, education, family, and more.
What they have discovered, and are using to transform themselves and their worlds, is available for all to discover—
A transformed world and a transformed life are only as far away as your own consciousness.
And that starts within you.
“The University of Santa Monica embodies the true meaning of education: to draw out from within. The Programs are rigorous as well as deeply healing. Structured so that working adults can attend over a series of weekends, the Programs in Spiritual Psychology are much needed wisdom training for our times. Come and join a family that inspires as well as educates.”
A Message From
Drs. Ron & Mary Hulnick:
Education for the 21st Century
It’s time for a Quantum Leap in consciousness! A leap from a limited five-sense reality into a multidimensional reality, including the Spiritual dimension, thereby opening a portal into the Spiritual Context. Daring to make this leap changes everything!
Less than a year ago, it seemed we were living on a different planet in a distinctly different reality. And then, suddenly, rapid and radical change began. Humanity’s situation and circumstances didn’t change just a little! “Pandemic” became a household word globally. Sequestering “Safer at Home” and wearing masks quickly became the order of the day—new 21st Century “best practices” for health and well-being. The number and magnitude of outer challenges that have followed—and the uncertainty—can seem rather overwhelming.
How do we individually and collectively navigate life when the outer challenges appear daunting in magnitude … and myriad—Covid-19, political polarization, economic hardship, environmental issues exacerbated by massive wildfires, hurricane after hurricane with seismic repercussions, severe air pollution wreaking havoc on human health and the health of the planet, and social unrest based on racial issues—to say nothing about the details of our own personal life circumstances catalyzing mental anguish and emotional suffering?
How will we respond to the steepening learning curve? Shall we default to a “New Normal” by remaining at the level of consciousness that actually created our current challenges? Or shall we evolve to a “New Better” by equipping ourselves with an elevated consciousness truly capable of achieving it?
Are you ready to answer the call at this critical moment in the evolution of humanity—a moment offering opportunities for unprecedented advances in consciousness and requiring radical change in physical-world reality if we are to survive as a species?
Enter USM and the Principles and Practices of Spiritual Psychology. A USM education is timely, essential, experiential, invaluable, and now available worldwide—providing nothing less than both transformation in consciousness and practical tools equipping those who are ready to do the necessary work in consciousness and take conscious action for the betterment of our world.
Know it is our intention, stronger than ever, to continue serving the greater Awakening that is taking place on the planet at this time by continuing to fulfill USM’s mission: Communicating the Principles and Practices of Spiritual Psychology worldwide through the process of Soul-Centered education.
In attuning to what Spirit is bringing forward on our beautiful planet, it is clear that the opportunity has never been more present for USM to provide Soul-Centered, experiential offerings now online to a global community. Current events continue catalyzing situations and circumstances providing exceptional opportunities for Healing, Transformation, and Awakening.
By each doing our own work, the net result will be the transmutation of prejudice, inhumanity, and oppression—the “dis-ease” that afflicts us all. In short, the time is at hand for humanity to evolve. And it starts with you.
The University of Santa Monica’s world-renowned Soul-Centered Living I 10-month Program in Spiritual Psychology beginning in March 2021 is now, for the first time, available to anyone on the planet through the Blessings and advances in online technology such that we can provide a truly Soul-Centered educational process online.
Current student experiences are best expressed by what they are sharing with us regarding their participation in the Online classroom, “the Loving transcends the medium.”
All of us at USM are so enthusiastic! Who would have thought we would be translating this world-renowned Program to an online offering available to students around the world without your needing to leave the safety and sanctuary of your own home!!
We invite you to join us for a year to remember.
Are You Ready?
Are you ready to answer the call to participate in this very special offering providing opportunities for:
- Experientially learning and integrating the life-changing Principles and Practices of Spiritual Psychology—as thousands of USM grads have done before you—as a way of Being and a way of life.
- Recognizing that change begins within and you have the power within you to transform your consciousness, the tools to transform your life, and are uniquely equipped with both to positively transform your world.
- Participating in a dynamic educational process designed to support you in healing the patterns you took embodiment to learn and grow through.
- AND standing up in the strength of your heart and sharing the gifts you took embodiment to share.
- Exploring and transmuting the material surfacing within your own consciousness catalyzing opportunities for deep Healing and the revelation of the Authentic Self.
- Recognizing and accepting the challenge inherent in Gandhi’s statement: “My life is my message,” by answering the call to Sacred Activism, which is nothing less than Loving in action.
The essence of
Soul-Centered Living
is Awakening
into the
Awareness of
who you truly are
and living your life
from within that Awakened state.
What Is Spiritual Psychology?
For more than 35 years, we have provided students with opportunities for learning and applying life-changing Principles and Practices of Spiritual Psychology at the University of Santa Monica. You may be asking, “What is Spiritual Psychology? What are these Principles and Practices? Can they help alleviate the mental anguish and emotional suffering I experience at times? Can they assist me in transforming my consciousness and my life—knowing my life purpose and living into it?”
We say, “Yes. That is exactly what they’re designed for!”
If you delve into the meaning of the word psyche, you’ll find phrases such as “breath, principle of life, soul.” But if you explore the meaning of the word psychology, you’ll see “the science of mind and behavior.” Somehow, in the translation from essence to clinical practice, the most important aspect of psyche has been lost. We recognize our calling as restoring the spiritual dimension to the Heart of an authentic psychological inquiry. It is this reintegration that is the Heart of a truly Spiritual Psychology, which we define as the study and practice of Conscious Awakening. As my [Ron’s] first spiritual teacher was fond of saying, “The reason psychology was inspired onto the planet was because humanity forgot why it was here.”
And what does Awakening mean? It begins with the awareness that we simultaneously reside in two worlds. We are most aware of the one known as physical-world reality. It’s the world of our everyday existence, including relationships, work, finances, health, weather, politics, etc., with which we are familiar and which we think of as reality. It is the world we know through our five senses
And, as we are becoming more and more aware, beyond five-sense, observable, material reality, there is another reality. It is non-material, multi-dimensional, and spiritual in nature. For our purposes, we define Awakening as becoming more and more aware of this “other” reality, where we experience our Essential Spiritual Nature as Loving, Peaceful, Joyful, Free, Enthusiastic, Beautiful, Creative, Wise, and more! The Persian poet and mystic, Jalaluddin Rumi, was certainly speaking from an Awakened state when he wrote:
The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you.
Don’t go back to sleep.
You must ask for what you really want.
Don’t go back to sleep.
People are going back and forth across the doorsill
where the two worlds touch.
The door is round and open.
Don’t go back to sleep.
Awakening into the Awareness of who, or more accurately what, you truly are and living your life from within that Awakened state is the essence of Spiritual Psychology. Today, as the evolutionary tide on the planet is rising, and larger numbers of people are Awakening to the Awareness that they are, in fact, Divine Beings having and using a human experience, the Principles and Practices of Spiritual Psychology provide context and tools for living into that Awareness. It is, in fact, our destiny to Awaken; for as we do so, we are actually Remembering that which is and always has been true.
This can be considered your personal introduction to what we speak of as “the Michelangelo effect,” which was so brilliantly expressed by the master sculptor himself when he said, “I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.” In just such a way, Awakening is not a journey of “becoming”; it is a process of “Remembering.”
Now here’s what to us is the most interesting and exciting part. This process of Awakening is not primarily a meditative process, though we encourage a spiritual practice we refer to as Spiritual Exercises. Awakening can be facilitated by engaging in an active process of releasing or dissolving the self-created barriers within your consciousness that are all that prevent you from knowing the Majesty of your Soul—from experientially knowing that you are the Presence of Love. As written in A Course in Miracles, “Your task is not to seek for love but to seek and find all the barriers you’ve built against it,” and to that we add, “… and to dissolve them.”
“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience.
We are spiritual beings having a human experience.”
Entering the Spiritual Context
What does it mean to be a Spiritual Being having a human experience? Might it be that Teilhard perceived most of us as seeing ourselves in exactly the opposite way? Clearly, he was aware of the tendency to define ourselves as human beings who occasionally, if we’re fortunate, have a spiritual experience.
Teilhard’s quote is a powerful statement regarding the Spiritual Context—the Awareness that you are a Soul and that your life serves spiritual purpose—for it opens a portal to another way of perceiving yourself, your life experiences, and your purpose for being on this earth in human form.
To read an expanded answer to the question, “What is Spiritual Psychology?” click here for an article by Drs. Ron & Mary Hulnick entitled Spiritual Psychology: The Long-Awaited Convergence.
usm’s mission
The University of Santa Monica is dedicated to communicating the Principles and Practices of Spiritual Psychology™ Worldwide through the process of Soul-Centered Education.
The Real Story of Awakening
What is the real story of Awakening as you live more and more fully into the Awareness that you truly are a Divine Being having a human experience? What happens as you integrate skills such as Seeing the Loving Essence and Heart-Centered Listening and they become a Way of Being?
What transpires when you catch on to the fact that life is happening inside your consciousness and not “out there” as you previously thought? What happens when you realize that your experience in physical-world reality is determined largely by the beliefs found within the matrix of your perceptual filter, functioning as your internal operating system … and you consciously begin downloading and installing a “Spiritual Orientation” software upgrade?
What shifts occur when you realize you are the architect of your life, and that your inner and outer choices are the building blocks of your future … and you begin making more Self-Honoring choices, choices more in harmony with your Loving nature and your Soul’s Purpose?
What happens when you wake up to the Authentic Empowerment available through taking responsibility for your judgments and upsets with the intention of releasing them … and you begin realizing you are at cause rather than at the effect?
What happens when you begin to apply Loving to the places inside where there is hurt … and you engage in Compassionate Self-Forgiveness of your judgments, misinterpretations, and misidentifications—and you let them go?
What happens when the deep wellspring of Compassion that resides within your Authentic Self begins Flowing abundantly through you … and you wake up into the Awareness that you are Love?
Here’s what happens! You’ve struck it rich! This is when life truly begins, for in those moments of Revelation, you know the Mother Lode, the Source of True Gold, is within you—in fact, it is you! You’ve experienced your Authentic Self, and your Awakening Heart is aware of the download of Spirit’s Blessing through you as you.
Your consciousness becomes a conduit for Living Love and your course through life, an expression of that Love—for you know, as poet Rod McKuen knew: “It doesn’t matter who you love or how you love, but that you love.” To which we would add—for you are Love!
Remember that growth is an ongoing process, not an event. We support and encourage you! The Principles and Practices of Spiritual Psychology are practical tools you can use each and every day of your life in service to your Awakening.
Click here to watch grads share personal stories of Awakening and how using the Principles and Practices of Spiritual Psychology has brought positive and lasting transformation to them and their lives.
Spiritual Psychology and Sacred Activism
As students experience the deep Healing of issues and ego patterns available through learning and utilizing the Principles and Practices of Spiritual Psychology both in the University of Santa Monica classroom and the classroom of their everyday lives, they experience Awakening into their Essential Nature, the consciousness we refer to as the Authentic Self—Joyful, Compassionate, Wise, Creative, and Unconditionally Loving. It is this consciousness in which they have direct access to the Wisdom, Inspiration, Knowing, and Guidance of the Soul.
As this transformational process occurs over time, students become increasingly aware of their gifts and the deep yearning to be of service—to use their God-given gifts and lives in ways that serve the greater Awakening taking place on the planet at this time. They experience themselves hearing and answering the call to make a meaningful difference, contributing to real solutions to the urgent needs and challenges that face humanity.
Our world has been destabilized by a global pandemic, economic and political uncertainty, as well as fire, flood, thirst, and hunger reflecting the dire need for the evolution of consciousness and yet-to-be-birthed solutions to meet these needs. As such, many are experiencing the call to activism. The call in so many hearts at this time is “How can I make a difference?”
At USM, we recognize the answer is activism, not based in shame, blame, judgment, against-ness, right-making and wrong-making, separation or violence. Real solutions do not emerge from the self-righteousness of the ego. Rather, they emerge from Sacred Activism based on knowing that growth in consciousness IS the vehicle for activation of the active ingredient essential to making a positive difference. This active ingredient essential to Healing, transformation, and real change is Loving … and Loving’s eternal flow activating Hearts in Healing … Serving … and Sharing. USM’s Programs have been designed and curated with this intention in mind and Heart.
At the University, we acknowledge that consciousness is fundamental—and as
Spiritual Psychology Principle 20 states:
Outer experience is a reflection of inner reality.
The next steps of human agency—exercising choice and intentionality in co-creating a “new earth”—include: Healing through learning and continuing to do the work in consciousness necessary to cleanse the lens of perception. This work is done by recognizing that it’s an “inkblot world” and engaging in the difficult, yet required work of accepting responsibility for the disturbance within our own consciousness that we project onto others and the world. This includes healing hurts, misunderstandings, and misidentifications that support the ego’s story of justified outrage, victimization, and separation. It means dismantling guilt, blame, and shame. We heal through applying Loving to the places inside where these patterns reside and forgiving ourselves for our judgments and misunderstandings. As John Lennon said, “Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see.” We say: change your lens, change your life, change your world.
At USM change begins within! Sacred Activism is recognized and honored as a path with Heart … a path of the Spiritual Warrior.
We provide experiential education and tools for life that facilitate real and enduring transformation/change and equip graduates to make meaningful contributions in their world.
“A spirituality that is only private and self-absorbed, one devoid of an authentic political and social consciousness, does little to halt the suicidal juggernaut of history.
“On the other hand, an activism that is not purified by profound spiritual and psychological self-awareness and rooted in divine truth, wisdom, and compassion will only perpetuate the problem it is trying to solve, however righteous its intentions.
“When, however, the deepest and most grounded spiritual vision is married to a practical and pragmatic drive to transform all existing political, economic, and social institutions, a holy force—the power of wisdom and love in action—is born.
“This force I define as Sacred Activism.”
Benefits of USM’s Soul-Centered Living I Program in Spiritual Psychology
- Awakening into the Awareness of yourself and others as Divine Beings having and using a human experience.
- Manifesting greater success, meaning, purpose, and fulfillment, both personally and professionally.
- Positively transforming your consciousness and your life by integrating the Principles and Practices of Spiritual Psychology and applying them in your everyday life.
- Providing both transformation in consciousness and practical tools equipping those who are ready to do the necessary work in consciousness and take conscious action for the betterment of our world.
- Demonstrating effectiveness in applying 33 powerful Soul-Centered Basic Skills—empowering tools for personal transformation, enhancing relationships, and Spiritual Awakening.
- Living into a Spiritual Context by learning to utilize everyday experiences effectively for growth on both the Goal Line (health, relationship, career, family, finances, life purpose, meaningful contribution, etc.) and Soul Line (Awakening into your Essential Spiritual Nature) of life.
- Resolving (healing) your own unresolved issues (anything that disturbs your peace).
- Discovering and aligning with your Soul’s purpose.
- Living into your deepest aspirations through discovering enlivening, fulfilling, and joy-filled ways of making a meaningful contribution in the world.
- Participating within a supportive community of like-minded and like-hearted individuals.
- Discovering your own answers to life’s three essential questions:
- Who am I?
- What is my purpose?
- How can I make a more meaningful contribution and live a more fulfilling life
“The University of Santa Monica provides a wonderful environment for real education and spiritual transformation. It draws a high-caliber, spiritually mature student who has clear intentions. When you bring together the sincerity of the student, the cutting-edge Programs that the University offers, and the quality of teachers that are facilitating the Programs, you have an authentic wisdom school. I have witnessed many of the students matriculate through the Program, and I can see they have walked hand in hand with quality.”
Hallmarks of Soul‑Centered Living
Include Knowing How To:
- Use all of your life experiences in service to your Awakening and access practical tools to do so.
- Embrace that your Essential Nature is Loving, and live accordingly.
- Relate with yourself in Compassionate and Healing ways that free you from mental anguish and emotional suffering.
- Accelerate your Healing and Awakening through intention and effectively using tools of issue resolution.
- Clarify your life’s purpose and translate it into meaningful and achievable goals.
- Experience the Freedom and Empowerment available through accepting 100% responsibility for your life.
- Live your life with greater purpose, meaning, and fulfillment as well as Joy and True Happiness.
- Use the practical and game-changing Principles and Practices of Spiritual Psychology as a way of being and a way of life.
The essence of Soul-Centered Living is Awakening into the Awareness of who you truly are and living your life from within that Awakened state.
“At a time when my internal cup was empty, USM filled me with insight, inspiration, and a deeper connection to who I truly am. For anyone on a path of healing, growth, or service, USM offers food for the soul, enlightenment for the mind, and peace for the heart. This school honors and respects every student in such a wonderful way. Regardless of who you are or what you do in the world, a USM education is a life-transforming gift that will sustain and support you all the days of your life.”
Online Education—USM Style
A new age is dawning here at USM!!
For more than 35 years, USM has attracted students who were so deeply called to participate in the University’s Programs that they traveled great distances from around the world each month, including from places as far away as Dubai, UAE; Oslo, Norway; Kenya, Africa; Sydney, Australia; Quito, Ecuador; as well as many European countries.
Now, as a consequence of the global pandemic and for the first time in the University’s history, Ron and Mary have redesigned USM’s dynamic, Spirit-filled curriculum such that it can be delivered online while maintaining its experiential nature.
This change in delivery system is in harmony with the University’s mission of Communicating the Principles and Practices of Spiritual Psychology Worldwide through the process of Soul-Centered Education.
Part of the question we asked was: How would this immersive Soul-Centered education, which takes place inside the Spiritual Context, translate into an online format?
What is amazing is students report the Heart-to-Heart, Soul-to-Soul connection and palpable transmission of Loving are as present and enlivening as ever.
Highlights of the USM online classroom experience include:
- Online classes are conducted in a supportive educational environment, meeting on Saturday and Sunday, one weekend a month for ten months, plus one evening per month between class weekends.
- Facilitator talks are followed by three-person “trio” processes through which participants can directly experience the concepts and information presented, discovering for themselves the value and workability of the Principles & Practices of Spiritual Psychology.
- During trios, students learn and practice 33 Soul-Centered Basic Skills, tools of Healing, Awakening, and enhancing interpersonal effectiveness. They also learn and practice powerful tools of Co-Creation.
- Large group sharing follows each trio process during which students share their experiences from the trio and ask questions.
- Sharing segments are opportunities to witness and experience Healing and to learn directly from master facilitators, Ron and Mary Hulnick.
- The class becomes a supportive community of like-minded and like-hearted individuals.
- Spiritual Psychology, as experienced through the online format, is heartfelt, relevant, practical, and transformational— in plain English, it is life-changing.
“To all like me who feared that the spirit of USM would get lost in the online format, I was fortunate enough to be a part of the first online class and the first online trio ever offered by USM. “SCL I last year was such a beautiful experience. I couldn’t understand how the ‘high’ that I would feel after class could be achieved. I thought: ‘We would miss soul gazing,’ and ‘I won’t be able to hug people and enjoy their energies,’ etc. “Well, as I come out of the first class, I’m so excited and relieved to report that I’m feeling the calm high, the warmth of love when I feel truly received, and the support I feel when I’m guided with compassion. “I realized the venue has changed, but the people and the work are the same. I should have known it’s not the location but the people that make the class, and the USM tribe was there. The loving USM community with their open hearts ready to love and be loved were there. I feel so blessed and excited by the possibilities of having more and more USM teachings in my life.”
Program Structure
Classes are conducted in a supportive educational environment and meet Saturday and Sunday, one weekend a month for ten months, March through December, plus one evening per month between class weekends. See class schedule here.
The content, methodology, and processes of this Program provide students opportunities to recalibrate their consciousness and their lives at a higher level. Classes emphasize relevant, immediately usable information, skills, and experiences designed to support students in Awakening into the Authenticity of who they truly are, Healing the patterns they took embodiment to heal, and empowering them in sharing their gifts thereby making a meaningful contribution in the world.
The Soul-Centered Living I Program includes four sequential and cumulative courses that empower students to integrate the Principles and Practices of Spiritual Psychology as a Way of Being and a Way of Life.
- Introduction to the Principles and Practices of Spiritual Psychology
- Spiritual Psychology Approaches to Transformation, Healing, and Awakening
- Integrating and Applying the Principles and Practices of Spiritual Psychology
- A Culminating Weekend Spiritual Psychology Laboratory
“Soul-Centered Living I is an invitation from Ron and Mary’s Hearts to yours: to inhabit your Soul nature even more fully and to share your Soul-Song, which only you can sing, in the world.”
Course Descriptions:
USM’s Soul-Centered Living I Program
These courses are offered sequentially over ten months.
Introduction to the Principles and Practices of Spiritual Psychology
The first three months provide an introduction to the Principles and Practices of Spiritual Psychology essential for learning how to live one’s life within the Context of Universal Spiritual Reality as contrasted with small self, ego-centered reality. Trio processes as well as Facilitator talks and large group sharing support students in learning and practicing 16 Soul-Centered Basic Skills, tools of Healing, Awakening, and enhancing interpersonal effectiveness. These include Seeing the Loving Essence, Heart-Centered Listening, Perception Checking, Responsibility I—Choice, Responsibility II—Ownership, Reframing Issues as Blessings, and Seven Steps to Issue Resolution.
Spiritual Psychology Approaches to Transformation, Healing, and Awakening
The second three months of the Program provide opportunities for students to continue deepening their understanding and application of the Principles and Practices of Spiritual Psychology in their everyday lives, both personally and professionally. Building on the foundation of information and Soul-Centered Basic Skills established in the first three months, cognitive and experiential exploration of the relevance of several Healing and Transformational Facilitation Approaches is provided both through in-class presentations and the experiential practice of elements of each of the approaches seen and applied through the lens of Spiritual Psychology.
These include:
- Spiritual Psychology and a Behavioral Approach
- Spiritual Psychology and a Person-Centered Approach
- Spiritual Psychology and a Gestalt Approach
- Spiritual Psychology and a Rational-Emotive Approach
- Spiritual Psychology and an NLP Approach: Reframing
- Spiritual Psychology and a Psychosynthesis Approach
In addition, students are presented with the opportunity to learn a primary tool of Spiritual Psychology known as Self-Counseling. Additional Soul-Centered Basic Skills are presented and practiced including Giving Effective Feedback, Receiving Feedback Effectively, Stepping Free—Living Beyond Your Comfort Zone, Facilitating Responsibility III—Self‑Honoring Choices, and Identifying, Owning, and Accepting Projections.
Integrating and Applying the Principles and Practices of Spiritual Psychology
The third three months of the Program assist students in further integrating and applying the Principles, Practices, and competencies of Spiritual Psychology in service to facilitating physical, mental, emotional, and Spiritual growth in their everyday lives. The seventh month includes themes of Living Into Your Purpose and Answering the Call of Spirit in your Heart. The eighth month is devoted to the theme of Cleansing the Lens of Your Perception. And the ninth month focus is Accepting and Sharing Your Gifts.
In addition, students are presented with the opportunity to more fully integrate the Principles, Soul-Centered Basic Skills, and Transformational Facilitation Approaches in service to enhancing their effectiveness in Working Your Process and Self-Counseling. Additional Soul-Centered Basic Skills are presented and practiced including Accessing Intuition, Facilitating Compassionate Self-Forgiveness, Facilitating Lesson Awareness, Tracking Projections I—Limiting Projections, Tracking Projections II—Positive Projections, Identifying and Clarifying Your Heartfelt Dreams, and Asking for What You Want.
Spiritual Psychology Laboratory
This culminating laboratory is designed to assist students in synthesizing, further integrating, and effectively utilizing the Soul-Centered Basic Skills, Transformational Facilitation Approaches, Healing attitudes, and Universal Spiritual Values associated with the subject matter of Spiritual Psychology. It provides an opportunity for students to demonstrate a higher level of integration and mastery in applying the Principles and Practices of Spiritual Psychology with themselves and others. It is also an opportunity for students to experience deeper Awareness of their Essential Spiritual Nature as Loving, Peaceful, Joyful, Free, Enthusiastic, Creative, Wise, Compassionate, and more.
“We shall teach and learn to cure ourselves rather than alleviate symptoms.
We shall transcend to the point of going through something for the last time.
Completion will be a part of the spiritual ecology.”
The Students
As a student, the University of Santa Monica’s Programs provide you with opportunities for growth both personally and professionally through learning and applying the Principles and Practices of Spiritual Psychology to everyday life experience. This educational process results in you experiencing greater connection with the authenticity of who you are, your life purpose, and enhanced levels of success and fulfillment. This empowers you to make a more meaningful contribution in your world.
A significant number of students hold advanced degrees in a variety of disciplines.
Past graduates have included numerous individuals from each of the following groups:
- Mental health professionals, including psychiatrists, psychologists, marriage and family therapists, social workers, etc.
- Educators who are teaching at all levels and administrators of educational institutions.
- Healthcare professionals, including physicians, nurses, chiropractors, physical therapists, and practitioners of alternative medicine.
- Those who would like to enhance their interpersonal effectiveness and the quality of their relationships personally and professionally.
- Business owners, executives, managers, supervisors, and consultants seeking to enhance both their leadership and interpersonal skills.
- Individuals with a high level of interface with the public, including sales and marketing representatives, lawyers, professional coaches, realtors, ministers and practitioners, social activists, athletes, peace officers, military personnel, government workers, etc.
- Artists from a wide range of creative disciplines, including authors, painters, poets, sculptors, dancers, classical and modern musicians, photographers, and actors from stage, television, and film.
- Those on a spiritual path who would like to be of greater service to themselves and others who are seeking their next steps personally and professionally.
- Those who are called to serve humanity as Sacred Activists.
“My life is my message.”
Students at the University of Santa Monica are adults with diverse cultural and varied educational, professional, and personal backgrounds. Programs are designed to accommodate those with both professional and family responsibilities. The weekend format allows students with full lives to participate. Since classes meet regularly over the course of ten consecutive months, deep bonds are formed as students become a community of support for one another.
As students progress through the Program, they recognize themselves as an integral part of a mutually supportive group of individuals committed to participating in a Soul-Centered educational process emphasizing enhanced Spiritual Awareness, the continual improvement of the quality of their lives, and living more in alignment with their Soul’s purpose.
As students complete the Program, they take their place within a community of individuals who are committed to a Learning Orientation to Life and to Soul-Centered Living.
USM’s Soul-Centered Living I Program provides:
- An educational opportunity for adults with full lives from around the world to participate in USM’s Soul-Centered educational process available now online.
- An educational model based upon an experiential learning process rather than the mere acquisition of information. The goal of learning is supporting students in integrating the Principles and Practices of Spiritual Psychology in service to the resolution of issues, the revelation of the Authentic Self, and living highly purposeful and fulfilling lives.
- An educational experience designed to positively transform the consciousness and lives of those participating.
- An educational process that is Soul-Centered and is a spiritualizing process designed to bring forth the Beauty, Wisdom, and Compassion inherent in every human being.
- An education for global citizenship for mature students whose intention is to Awaken to the awareness of who they truly are, cultivate global awareness, and are answering the call to make a difference with their lives.
Founding Faculty & Co‑Directors
Drs. Ron & Mary Hulnick
Drs. Ron and Mary Hulnick are recognized pioneers and worldwide leaders in the field of Spiritual Psychology™. As USM’s Founding Faculty and Co-Directors, they designed the University’s extraordinary curriculum, and they continue to serve as senior faculty.
More than 35 years ago, it was Ron and Mary’s vision to develop Programs, workshops, and other educational offerings, the hallmarks of which are characterized as experiential, engaging, relevant, meaningful, supportive, inspiring, practical, nurturing, and transformational. USM students and graduates around the world share that being with Ron and Mary in the classroom is, without exception, one of the most transformative, Loving, and memorable experiences that they will cherish for a lifetime.
Drs. Ron and Mary Hulnick are the Executive Producers of the University’s award-winning documentary Freedom to Choose, which took first place at the Emerging Filmmaker Category in the American Pavilion Showcase at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival.
Ron and Mary are both licensed Marriage and Family Therapists, and Mary is also a licensed Clinical Psychologist.
Their book Loyalty to Your Soul: The Heart of Spiritual Psychology was published in 2011 by Hay House in 12 countries and translated into 8 languages including Spanish, French, German, Hungarian, and simplified Chinese, among others. The book has been described by Caroline Myss as a “stunning masterpiece of primary importance.”
Their most recent book, Remembering the Light Within: A Course in Soul-Centered Living, was published by Hay House in 2017. It has been described by Larry Dossey, M.D., as “an essential guide for anyone seeking deeper meaning and fulfillment … not just for the individual seeking it; it is essential, at this point in history, for our flourishing and continuance as a species on our beloved planet.”
“It is with Gratitude in our Hearts and our many years of experience applying the Principles and Practices of Spiritual Psychology in our own daily lives, and supporting thousands of students in learning to do the same, that we share the Soul-Centered Living I Program with you. It is our intention to provide you with inspiration, encouragement, practical tools, and opportunities for learning how to live into the Spiritual Context—the Awareness that you are a Soul and that your life serves Spiritual purpose.
“Through participating in the Program and applying the information and tools you’re learning, you can experience the Blessings of nothing less than transforming your consciousness and transforming your life and being an active participant in transforming the world. Welcome aboard.”
Class Schedule
A Schedule You Can Live With
Classes meet one weekend a month for ten months, March through December, plus one evening per month in between classes. This schedule allows adults with busy personal and professional lives to participate.
Weekend Classes
- April 15 & 16 make-up class
- April 24 & 25
- May 22 & 23
- June 19 & 20
- July 24 & 25
- August 21 & 22
- September 25 & 26
- October 23 & 24
- November 20 & 21
Spiritual Psychology Lab
- December 10, 11 & 12
Weekend Schedule*
Saturday: 9:00 a.m. – 6:30 p.m. Pacific
Sunday: 9:00 a.m. – 6:30 p.m. Pacific
*All ending times are approximate. There is a meal break of one hour on each Saturday and Sunday along with other shorter breaks throughout each day.
Tuesday Evenings
- April 6
- May 11
- June 8
- July 6
- August 10
- September 7
- October 12
- November 9
- November 30
Evening Hours
- 5:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. Pacific
USM Community
An important product of the University of Santa Monica is the quality of the learning environment. As a conscious educational community, we are continually cultivating and evolving in service to all participating. At USM, everyone is a student, including currently enrolled students, staff, faculty, and alumni. USM’s intention is congruence between what is taught and the process through which it is taught.“There is no question that USM is on the leading edge, creating a model of what education could be, should be, and, in fact, HAS to be!”
Tuition
Soul-Centered Living I Program
Monthly Tuition
$1,000 for the 10 Months (March–December)
10 months of Classes x $1,000 per month
Total Program Cost
Total $10,000
Monthly Payment Schedule
Class
Tuition
Due Date
March
$1,000
Upon Registration
April
$1,000
4/5/2021
May
$1,000
5/5/2021
June
$1,000
6/5/2021
July
$1,000
7/5/2021
August
$1,000
8/5/2021
September
$1,000
9/5/2021
October
$1,000
10/5/2021
November
$1,000
11/5/2021
December
$1,000
12/5/2021
Special Tuition for Grad Audits
$750 for the 10 Months (March–December)
10 months of Classes x $750 per month
Total Program Cost
Total $7,500
To inquire about financial assistance, please contact an Admissions Advisor.
You’re Invited
USM Worldwide Community Gatherings
These complimentary evenings provide an opportunity to experience the Principles and Practices of Spiritual Psychology in action, meet the faculty, and interact with current students, staff, and graduates.
USM Worldwide Community Gatherings are held online on select dates throughout the year. To RSVP for an upcoming event, click here.
“Education of the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.”
Next Steps
Admission—Next Steps
In order to support the experience of being part of an educational community, USM accepts 221 highly qualified students each year. Classes begin in March and spaces fill quickly. When the class fills, prospective students are placed on a waiting list. A completed Application for Admission is required to reserve your space in the class, pending your acceptance into the Program. If it is your intention to participate, we encourage you to register and complete your Application early in order to receive priority consideration for admission.
Soul-Centered Living I Admissions Criteria
For acceptance to Soul-Centered Living I: A 10-Month Certificate Program in Spiritual Psychology, the University of Santa Monica’s Admissions Committee uses the following criteria to evaluate each applicant’s completed Application:
- Commitment to life-long learning.
- Emotional/psychological maturity, including interpersonal competencies, attributes, and skills necessary to be successful in an educational Program that emphasizes experiential learning.
- Intention to actively engage in learning and applying the Principles and Practices of Spiritual Psychology.
- Commitment to full participation and completion of the Program.
Stay Tuned to learn when Soul-Centered Living I will be offered again.
View and download this Program
information as a PDF.
SHARE ABOUT SOUL-CENTERED LIVING I:
Share on facebook
Share on twitter
Share on linkedin
Share on pinterest
Share on google
Share on tumblr
Share on whatsapp
Share on email
The Soul-Centered Living I Program information is the registered property of the University of Santa Monica and Drs. Ron and Mary Hulnick and may not be used or reproduced in whole or in part without the express written permission of the University of Santa Monica.
WORLDWIDE CENTER FOR THE STUDY AND PRACTICE OF SPIRITUAL PSYCHOLOGY®
@2020 University of Santa Monica