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 …
Blog
Planting Seeds of Growth
By Grant Helmus, Field Manager At Pacific Quest wilderness therapy program, we strive to serve all our students as unique individuals. We understand that they are here for a variety of reasons and we strive to work with them all differently. Pacific Quest is an outdoor therapy program using a Sustainable Growth™ treatment model as …
PQ Welcomes Visitors From Australia
Pacific Quest Wilderness Therapy program recently hosted two key leaders from the Horticultural Therapy Association of Victoria, Australia. Karen and Paul Delamotte joined Pacific Quest’s Land Supervisor Travis Slagle for an interactive tour of the 8 acre wilderness program in Hawaii that has provided life changing experiences for hundreds of youth from around the world. …
The Flow State
By Mike Sullivan, Therapist This is fascinating – and you will likely be able to relate to this. Mihály Csíkszentmihályi and colleagues in Italy pondered the mental state of artists while in the act of creating art. Through phenomenological studies, Csíkszentmihályi, maintains that people can basically become absorbed into an activity and reach a particular …
Pictures Worth A Thousand Words
By Erin Levine, Clinical Admissions Director Every Friday evening when I am winding down my week, I take some time to view the slideshow of pictures that catalogs the activities the students participated in that week. I scroll through hundreds of pictures of busy and smiling faces in the different camps, at different phases of …
“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), …
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 …
Ohana Visits the Volcano Art Center
Today the Ohana went to the Volcano Art Center (VAC). The VAC is a nonprofit educational organization located in and around Hawaii Volcano National Park. Their mission is to promote, develop, and perpetuate the artistic and cultural heritage of Hawaii’s people and environment through activities in the visual, literary, and performing arts. The Ohana had …
Lassoing Weeds – Community Service Project
Last Saturday the Ohana group participated in a community service project at Punaluu Beach Park. Punaluu is one of the largest black sand beaches on the Big Island of Hawaii and is located about 30 minutes from the PQ campus. It is most famously known for the green sea turtles that come to rest and …
Unplugging from digital media
How does being “plugged in” effect well being and brain functioning? This question was first posed as televisions began sprouting in family living rooms across the US. Next, desk top computers and the world wide web raised alarm as more and more people were being drawn to the computer screen. As desktop computers become more …
A Glimpse of Solo
At Pacific Quest the students choose to go on a 3 night, 2 day Rites of Passage/solo fashioned about the model of a Vision Quest . They prepare by reading books that focus on the solo experience, do assignments that focus on severance and beginning a new story in their life, and create an intent …