Blog

By Theresa Hasting, LMHC You’ve given everything you had; sleepless nights making sure your son stayed in his room, missing work to ensure he went to school, constant vigilance to ensure his safety.  You’ve got him in a safe place where he is able to work on these issues.  Now what?  As we work with …

New Year’s Resolutions are often considered a very individual and personal undertaking. Staying fit and healthy, losing weight, living life to the fullest, saving more and spending time with family and friends round out Nielsen’s top five list for 2015. This year, make a healthful family life top priority. Making healthier eating a family initiative …

“Now I realize that I had, in a sense, been sleeping all those years and just dreaming I was awake—until I met Socrates, who came to be my mentor and friend. Before that time, I’d always believed that a life of quality, enjoyment, and wisdom were my human birthright and would be automatically bestowed upon …

With a new year inevitably comes a new set of resolutions. Our resolutions are often aimed at bettering our bodies, supplementing our social lives or lining our pockets. Lists of the top New Year’s resolutions every year include losing weight, traveling more often, drinking and smoking less, and saving more money. But what about our …

You are all familiar with the famous quote: “That which does not kill me, makes me stronger.” It originated from the existential philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, and the meaning behind this simple phrase had a powerful impact on Viktor Frankl—in his endurance as a prisoner in concentrations camps and in his analysis of survival and the …

By Maureen Riley, MPH, MA Thanksgiving has passed and the holiday season is upon us. However, for students in a therapeutic wilderness program like Pacific Quest, gratitude is always in season. Feelings of gratitude for one’s family members, life opportunities and material possessions, emerge quickly for students who are away from home for an extended …

Eight Pacific Quest therapists are currently immersed in the Empowerment and Transformation experiential art and sandplay therapy training program based on the principles of Jungian psychology and the neuropsychology of expressive therapy.  Training began in September and will continue until May, 2016. Therapists meet monthly to practice art therapy techniques using mediums such as paint, …

As many parents with teens know, staying close to a child during those formative years can be quite the feat. No matter what you do, your behavior seems to annoy, embarrass or even anger them to the point of no return. Understanding the teenage psyche can be daunting to the point of hopelessness. When it …

Life has a way of sneaking up on us. One minute you’re carefree, and the next your life is being shaped by the pressures of reality. This is true for our teens, as well. After all, they face a great deal of stress (daily!) from social and academic pressures to worrying about things like school …

By Erin Gustin, PsyD Students come to Pacific Quest from various parts of the country. Some have never traveled to the warmer, more tropical parts of the world. The plants, weather, and culture of Hawaii are unfamiliar and sometimes shocking to them. Working in a garden is likely something they have not felt like doing …