By Britta Zimmer, ND, Medical Director In front of a standing room only crowd, Dr. Kasenchak and I recently presented at the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians conference in Bellevue, Washington. The audience consisting of MDs, NDs, and PhDs were eager to hear about Pacific Quest’s unique management approach to treating common mental health disorders. …
Blog
Hilary Moses Promoted to Clinical Director
By Yvette Slagle, Outreach Assistant Pacific Quest is pleased to announce the promotion of Hilary Moses as the new Clinical Director. Hilary is an LCSW with over 13 years of experience working with adolescents and families in a variety of settings. She earned her MSW from Bryn Mawr, Graduate School of Social Work and Social …
Young Adult Program Moves to Reeds Bay
By Yvette Slagle, Outreach Assistant Pacific Quest is pleased to announce the movement of the young adult program to a brand new ocean front location at historical Reeds Bay. Several years ago, Pacific Quest was asked by a number of families and referring professionals to consider serving the needs of struggling young adults. Noted for …
Pacific Quest Presents at the AANP Conference
By Britta Zimmer, ND, Medical Director In front of a standing room only crowd, Dr. Kasenchak and I recently presented at the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians conference in Bellevue, Washington. The audience consisting of MDs, NDs, and PhDs were eager to hear about Pacific Quest’s unique management approach to treating common mental health disorders. …
PQ Welcomes Dr. Shelly Ham
Pacific Quest wilderness therapy program welcomes Psychiatrist Dr. Shelly Ham to its clinical and wellness team. Dr. Shelly Ham will have an integral role working with Pacific Quest’s treatment professionals where she will oversee and evaluate the psychiatric needs of all adolescent and young adult students enrolled at Pacific Quest’s wilderness programs. Suzanne McKinney, co-founder …
Depression In Teenagers
Do you have a teen that has bouts of irritability, angry outbursts or occasional mood swings? If yes, then you have a very typical teen moving through the transition from childhood to adulthood with a healthy dose of emotional growing pains. These types of benign behaviors are not depression. Depression is a clinical diagnosis that …
Pacific Quest Welcomes New Clinicians
Pacific Quest Wilderness Therapy is pleased to announce the addition of two new clinicians to our ohana! Haley Robinson and Bridger Jensen joined Pacific Quest in May as Primary Clinicians. Haley Robinson joins Pacific Quest from Seattle, where she has worked for the past several years providing mental health and substance abuse counseling to young …
Life is What You Make of it
By Kelly Weld, Therapist Being a counselor at an intervention program is a challenging and rewarding task. When students arrive they are lost and desperate, their families are in crisis, and it is our job to help re-align the system in a relatively short period of time. The process feels first like a roller-coaster (with …
Rites-of-Passage Story Council
By Lindsey Baldwin, Therapist One of the best parts of my job as a therapist at Pacific Quest wilderness therapy program is being a part of the Rites of Passage story council on Thursday mornings. On these mornings, students return from a two-day ceremony and share their experience with a group of peers. My role …
The Ohana’s Choice
By Tom De Trolio, Outing Supervisor Recently, the Ohana took an adventure to Honomalino Bay which lies 2,000ft down the scenic 5 mile road leading to Miloli’i, one of the last ancient fishing villages to rely on fishing as a way of life. From the town of Miloli’i, the group hiked about a half mile …
Current Events and Character Development
Each week at PQ there are several therapist-run group sessions that touch on a variety of topics. One of those this week addressed the concepts of peer pressure and “the bystander effect.” The issue was stirred up by the tragic events of October 24 in Richmond, CA during which a 15-year old girl was raped, …