Blog

By Roxy Cafaro, Field Supervisor Due to the varied cultures and religions of our staff and students at Pacific Quest wilderness therapy program, we held our winter holiday celebration in honor of the solstice. Our celebration included creative games and activities and of course a holiday meal. A highlight of the celebration was the “imu,” …

To understand the great benefits wilderness therapy programs can offer struggling teens and at-risk young adults, it may be helpful to review the “Stages of Change.” The Stages of Change is a model created to track behavioral refinements in people. Known in its clinical form as the Transtheoretical Model, there are six stages to track. …

By Hilary Moses, Therapeutic Program Director Our focus on maintaining a high quality of care is always in motion and is invigorated every Monday morning in a meeting with the field supervisors, the therapeutic program director and the staff supervisor; it also includes a drop in visit from Al, PQ’s RN. During this meeting, the …

By Alicia Goldman Aloha! I am Alicia Goldman, and I am the new Director of Alumni and Family Services at Pacific Quest wilderness therapy program. My role is two-fold…one role being a resource to assist families and bridge the transition from PQ back into the home environment. For many families this can be a fragile …

Last week, Pacific Quest wilderness therapy program hosted a preschool field trip, and the gardens were full of laughter and learning for all ages.  Children and their caregivers visited our camp and gardens to learn about growing food and healthy eating, and in the process our program was enriched with a reminder of the many …

By Mike Sullivan, Therapist Have you heard? The McRib is back at McDonalds!!!! Well if you hadn’t heard it yet, you have now. Fast food chains are extremely effective in marketing to the populous, especially youth. In fact, I didn’t learn of the re-emergence of the McRib from television or radio, I learned of it …

By Erin Levine, Clinical Admissions Director Fun Fact: Did you know that it takes 2-3 years to grow a single pineapple? The pineapples our students enjoy today were planted by students almost three years ago. This can be a powerful life lesson for our students who are so used to instant gratification. In life, many …

Young adults are just that…young. Treating them like children is inappropriate. Treating them like adults is inappropriate. So the question is: how do we appropriately treat them as the young adults they are? The challenge comes in trying to understand where to place our young adults and children and adults given so many extenuating circumstances. …

Pacific Quest wilderness therapy program recently hosted a community visit, which allowed our neighbors and residents in Ka’u (Southern Hawaii) to learn more about our program, to interact with the students and staff, to share lunch, and even join in a land project. We received an unexpected letter from a community member and thought our …

We are pleased to announce new growth in the Pacific Quest wilderness therapy program clinical department!  After almost six years as a primary wilderness therapist, Hilary Moses is now our Therapeutic Program Director. In her new role, Hilary will work collaboratively with Toby Mautz, our Clinical Director. Hilary’s goal is to train and coach our …