Blog

On September 1, the clinical team at Pacific Quest began a year-long training process to achieve site certification in the Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics™ (NMT), an evidence-based practice developed by Dr. Bruce Perry. NMT is a developmentally sensitive, neurobiology-informed approach to clinical problem solving (www.childtrauma.org). NMT training will develop capacity for clinicians to assess students …

Pacific Quest’s Clinical Director, Dr. Lorraine Freedle recently presented at the 2014 Neurosequential Model Inaugural Symposium in Banff, Alberta – Canada.  The conference entitled “Brain Development and Trauma: Implications for Interventions and Policy” took place at The Banff Centre on June 10-12th, 2014.  The conference included workshops which highlighted emerging concepts and practices in the …

By Dr. Britta Zimmer, Medical Director Thirty percent of children and adolescents experience some sort of sleep disturbances. Sleep disorders include insufficient sleep, insomnia, sleep apnea, circadian rhythm disorder, bedwetting, sleepwalking, restless legs and narcolepsy. Insomnia is defined as the prolonged inability to get the amount of sleep you as an individual, need to wake …

Pacific Quest’s Clinical Director, Lorraine Freedle, PhD, CST-T will be presenting “La Llorona Weeps: Neural Integration, Sandplay and Traumatic Grief” at the 2014 Sandplay Therapists of America Conference in Seattle, Washington.  The conference entitled “The Spirit of Story in Sandplay” will take place at the Red Lion Hotel on Thursday June 5th-Sunday June 8, 2014. …

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 …

Dr. Lorraine R. Freedle is a board certified Pediatric and School Neuropsychologist with over 25 years experience in clinical practice and administration in children’s behavioral health. She has extensive experience treating young people and their families impacted by trauma, loss, substance abuse, ADHD, mood disturbances, TBI, and a variety of neurodevelopmental and learning disorders through …

By Lori Armbruster, Communications Director In the Hawaiian culture, the word “Ohana” means family, which can be blood-related, adoptive or intentional. The concept emphasizes that families are bound together and members must cooperate and remember one another. When a young person enters Pacific Quest, they become part of a larger Ohana. As they discover the …

Written through the voices of incoming Pacific Quest staff and their stories of arrival… (Through the lens of Kenny) As we fly into Hawaii the feeling of nostalgia wouldn’t wear off. I have left my family in the midst of winter to join a group of strangers in the field of troubled youth reform. There …

By Jody St. Joseph, Adolescent Program Director It wasn’t two very large strangers who woke me in the middle of the night, but it was close enough.  My alarm screamed me awake at about 4 am and before long I was at the airport about to leave behind my doggie, my home, and my family.  …

By Maile Green, Naturopathic Physician As the holiday season is in full swing, I find myself thinking about my daily routines for creating health.  I believe health and a sense of vitality are more than the absence of disease.  I believe physical and mental health are the product of daily practices and habits that create …