When the Ebola virus broke out in Guinea, West Africa, with Patient Zero, a 4-year-old boy who came down with the disease, Peace Corps volunteer Hilary Braseth was forced to return to the U.S. after three years of service.Once she landed in the very fast-paced, high-tech San Francisco Bay Area, though, it was a rough transition. She didn’t believe she could find a place in U.S. society that would allow her the space or the breathing room to integrate the “very real changes that occurred in the Peace Corps” with her new life in the U.S. After having spent so much time serving in a foreign country and making deep, lasting friendships with people so different from one’s self, how do you assimilate back to the “grind” of daily U.S. living, she wondered.Then, something magical happened…Read the full blog post or listen to the interview, "Peace Corps Meets Pacifica: Stories from Guinea"—An Interview with Coverdell Fellow and Returned Peace Corps Volunteer, Hilary Braseth, the 2nd in this March series spotlighting the stories of returned Peace Corps volunteers, in honor of the anniversary of the creation of the Peace Corps in 1961: http://www.pacificapost.com/peace-corps-meets-pacifica-stories-from-guinea

ABOUT THE HOSTS/PRESENTERS
BONNIE BRIGHT, Ph.D.,(Founder of Depth Psychology Alliance), is a Transpersonal Soul-Centered Coach certified via Alef Trust/Middlesex University, and a certified Archetypal Pattern Analyst®, and has trained extensively in Holotropic Breathwork™ and the Enneagram. She has trained with African elder, Malidoma Some'; with Transpersonal Pioneer Stan Grof; and with Jungian analyst, Jerome Bernstein, among others.Her dissertation focused on a symbolic look at Colony Collapse Disorder and what the mass vanishing of honeybees means to us both personally and as a collective. Bonnie’s path to soul began with a spontaneous mystical experience in 2006, and she continues her quest for awakening each day with a sense of joy, freedom, and gratitude at the magic afoot in the world.

JAMES R. NEWELL, Ph.D., MTS, (Director of Depth Psychology Alliance) earned his Ph.D. in History and Critical Theories of Religion from Vanderbilt University (2007), and holds a master's degree in pastoral counseling and theology from the Vanderbilt University Divinity School (2001). James is also the director of the Depth Psychology Academy, offering college-level courses in Jungian and depth psychology. James has spent much of his working life as a professional musician, singer-songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist with interests in jazz, blues, folk, world, and devotional music. Since his youth, James has worked with a variety of blues greats including John Lee Hooker, James Cotton, Jr. Wells, Hubert Sumlin, Big Joe Turner, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, and others.