This article, written by Travis Slagle, Horticultural Therapy Director, was recently published in the AHTA News Magaizine, a quarterly publication of the American Horticultural Therapy Association. In the classic Hawaiian gardener’s book, Tropical Organic Gardening: Hawaiian Style author Richard Stevens famously wrote, “The art of gardening and the art of living come together in the …
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Pacific Quest Directors Present at NMT Symposium
By: Travis Slagle, MA Horticultural Therapy Director/ Therapist The world of mental health and neuroscience is built on a foundation of relationships. Whether it be the relationships among billions of neural pathways, or the relationships we contend with in our daily lives; human nature thrives on relationship and connection. We each learn to navigate the …
Successful Horticultural Therapy Training at PQ
Horticultural Therapy is one of the cornerstones of Pacific Quest’s integrative, holistic approach. Recently, over sixty Pacific Quest employees participated in an all day training in horticultural therapy. Therapists and direct care staff worked side-by-side utilizing creative interventions, combining evidence-based practices with mind-body techniques. Horticulture Therapy Training One of the main goals of this training …
PQ to Present at Wilderness Therapy Symposium
The “Dirty Work” of Transformation: Horticultural Therapy & Rites of Passage Presentation to be held Saturday, August 29 in Park City, Utah at the OBH Wilderness Therapy Symposium PQ’s Horticultural Therapy Director, Travis Slagle and Adolescent Field Manager, Clementine Wilson invite you to join them as they present: The “Dirty Work” of Transformation: Horticultural Therapy …
The World’s Oldest Therapist
Travis Slagle, M.A. Horticultural Therapy Director, Pacific Quest National Geographic recently published the article Gardens: The World’s Oldest Therapist, which describes the scientific inquiry behind nature informed treatment, and how the oldest therapists of the world are poised to become the newest ally in outdoor therapy. No matter how much the urban shuffle distracts us, …
Changing the World One Life at a Time
By Travis Slagle, Horticultural Therapy Director Changing the world is not an easy business, and for mental health providers, changing a life can be just as complicated. Many people enter the field of outdoor therapy because they want to change lives. For students at Pacific Quest, the most basic therapeutic task is to literally practice …
The Land Dance: Farming as Initiation
By Travis Slagle, Horticultural Therapy Director The following article was published in ‘Circles on the Mountain’ Rites of Passage in a Rapidly Changing World, Issue #17, 2013. This is an annual publication of the Wilderness Guides Council. Imagine what the world would be like if wilderness guides of the future became organic farmers. What if …
A New Perspective in Wilderness & Horticultural Therapy
This article, written by Travis Slagle, Horticultural Therapy Director, was recently published in the AHTA News Magaizine, a quarterly publication of the American Horticultural Therapy Association. In the classic Hawaiian gardener’s book, Tropical Organic Gardening: Hawaiian Style author Richard Stevens famously wrote, “The art of gardening and the art of living come together in the …
The Growing Edge of Wilderness Therapy
By Travis Slagle, Horticulture Therapy Director Imagine what the world would be like if wilderness therapists of the future became organic farmers. What if the people entrusted to witness life’s most significant transitions traded in the more esoteric theories of eco-psychology and wilderness survival for a simple shovel and pitch fork? For many people, the …
Why Gardening?
By Travis Slagle, Horticulture Therapy Director In the past three weeks I had the opportunity to attend the annual conference for the American Horticultural Therapy Association, and co-present with Hilary Moses at the Wilderness Therapy Symposium sponsored by the Outdoor Behavioral Health Care Industry Council. Both organizations are dedicated to developing research and professional development …
“Aloha Aina”- To Love the Land
By Travis Slagle, Horticulture Therapy Director To love the land is the oldest and most essential way of life in Hawaii. The people who care deeply for the land know what it means to be “pono” (to have integrity); they respect the ancestors by continuing their work, by planting the seeds, cultivating the “kalo” (taro), …