Blog

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 …

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 …

By: Mike Sullivan, Primary Therapist & Lori Armbruster, Communications Director PQ staff members were honored and humbled by the overwhelming turnout of alumni, students and families who gathered at the San Francisco Children’s Garden in Golden Gate Park for an inspiring day of service to the community! PQ alumni spent the day working side by …

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 …

By Tess Barnes Dunn, Academic Coordinator Recently, I had an opportunity to spend a day working with my new Pacific Quest colleagues in the area of our garden set aside for our Rites of Passage ceremony, known as Huli Ka’e. A rite of passage is an important event that serves to mark the passage from …

By Yvette Slagle, Outreach Assistant I stand quietly and look at the garden…the jalapenos and basil, cilantro and parsley, a gourmet salad mix that boasts an array of greens, purples and reds.  There are marigolds, sunflowers, calendula– and of course, nasturtiums.   We decided this time around we should do a succession of Provider Beans, a …

By Yvette Slagle, Outreach Assistant On Saturday, September 7, 2013 from 9:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m., Pacific Quest’s Clinical Director, Hilary Moses, LCSW and Horticultural Therapy Director, Travis Slagle will present “Horticultural Therapy: A Growing Edge In Outdoor Treatment” at the annual Wilderness Therapy Symposium in Boulder, Colorado. As a world renowned therapeutic program for struggling adolescents …

By Matt Armstrong, Recruitment Manager As the Recruiter at Pacific Quest, I speak to potential Program Guide applicants and current staff on a daily basis. I’m often asked a variety of questions from those interested in applying or currently working in this position. As the recruiter, I can’t help but want to spend extra time …

By Julie Hofferbert, Ka’u Office Manager I take my break under the mango tree and realize there are little green mangoes above. This starts me thinking about the tangerine tree near my office that provided me with warm juicy snacks throughout the day when I first started working at Pacific Quest. I realize that those …

Pacific Quest is so pleased to officially announce the launch of it’s brand new website which integrates the two program specific sites- the Adolescent Program and the Young Adult Program– into one complete web address. The focus for Pacific Quest is to create innovative treatments for adolescents and young adults by providing sustainable living skills …