Phillips Graduate University was a private

graduate school Postgraduate or graduate education refers to Academic degree, academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by higher education, post-secondary students who have earned an Undergraduate education, un ...

Chatsworth, Los Angeles Chatsworth is a suburban neighborhood in the City of Los Angeles, California, in the San Fernando Valley. The area was home to Native Americans, some of whom left caves containing rock art. Chatsworth was explored and colonized by the Spanish be ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. It provided numerous degrees including doctoral degree in Organizational Management & Consulting and master's degrees in

family therapy Family therapy (also referred to as family counseling, family systems therapy, marriage and family therapy, couple and family therapy) is a branch of psychology and clinical social work that works with families and couples in intimate relationsh ...

art therapy Art therapy (not to be confused with ''arts therapy'', which includes other creative therapies such as drama therapy and music therapy) is a distinct discipline that incorporates creative methods of expression through visual art media. Art thera ...

, and

human relations The concept of interpersonal relationship involves social associations, connections, or affiliations between two or more people. Interpersonal relationships vary in their degree of intimacy or self-disclosure, but also in their duration, in t ...

History

In 1971, Clinton E. Phillips and David Jansen, who had worked in family systems theory and family therapy at the American Institute of Family Relations, founded the California Family Study Center. In 1992, the institution was renamed Phillips Graduate Institute and in 2016 it was changed to Phillips Graduate University. The university transferred the marriage and family therapy program in 2019 to

Campbellsville University Campbellsville University (CU) is a private Christian university in Campbellsville, Kentucky. It was founded as Russell Creek Academy and enrolls more than 12,000 students. The university offers associate, bachelor's, and master's degrees. In 2 ...

which opened an off-campus instructional site, the Los Angeles Education Center, at the former location of Phillips Graduate University. Until April 30, 2019, it was accredited by the

Western Association of Schools and Colleges The Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) was an organization providing School accreditation, accreditation of public and private universities, colleges, secondary school, secondary and elementary schools in California and Hawaii, ...

. It trained more than 2,700 family therapists, and worked in conjunction with the California Family Counseling Center which operated in the same location. Presidents at PGU have included Ed Cox (1981-1999), Lisa Porche-Burke (1999-2009), and Yolanda J. Nunn Gorman (2009-2016).

Academics

The university's focus was on

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

and

professional doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...

degrees in

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

and the field of

, and

organizational development Organization development (OD) is the study and implementation of practices, systems, and techniques that affect organizational change, the goal of which is to modify an organization's performance and/or culture. The organizational changes are ...

, as well as post-graduate credential programs and continuing education workshops for mental health practitioners interested in furthering their knowledge.

References

{{authority control Universities and colleges in Los Angeles County, California Universities and colleges established in 1971 Art therapy Graduate schools in the United States Private universities and colleges in California