Blog

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 …

For many of us, winter means snow-covered walkways, freezing temperatures and commutes lengthened by the presence of puddles and slush. However, winter in Hawaii is idyllic, with sunny days and average daily temperatures often hovering around 75°F. These pristine weather conditions mean that outdoor activities continue unabated during the Hawaiian winter. Specifically, winter is a …

Pacific Quest is excited to announce the addition of therapist, Scott Boice, LPC, LMHC to its Clinical Department.  Scott is a Licensed Professional Counselor and a Licensed Mental Health Counselor in the State of Hawaii and will be providing clinical services to adolescent and young adult students. Scott earned his undergraduate degree from Brigham Young …

Parenting teens is never easy, and when your teenager is diagnosed with clinical depression, it can become overwhelming. You may feel exhausted from lying awake at night worrying about your child. The despair over failed attempts to communicate is tough to bear. Endless fights and open defiance create chaos that affects the entire household. Parenting …

Parenting a teenager is no small feat. As children work their way through adolescence, they struggle with issues of identity, independence, peer pressure, and anxiety about the future. For adopted teens, these issues are often compounded with thoughts about their birth families and why they were given up for adoption. That combination of stressors can …

“The great human adventure…is the adventure of traveling toward the unknown,” Paulo Coelho writes at the start of The Pilgrimage. He is about to embark on the Strange Road to Santiago in search of his sacred sword. Ultimately, he knows that even if he does not find his sword, the pilgrimage will enable him to …

By Genell Howell, MA, CSAC Primary Therapist When we hear the word trauma we often associate it with endangering events. According to the American Psychological Association, trauma is an emotional response to a detrimental event such as an accident, rape or natural disaster. While trauma is commonly associated with major life events, it may also include …

By Tom Jameson, MS, NCC Primary Therapist The Father of Attachment Theory, John Bowlby, described attachment as the “lasting psychological connections between human beings.” The way in which humans attach to others has been proven influential in terms of how individuals relate to others, themselves, and the world. Research has found that a person’s attachment …

For many young girls, being “model thin” is a very real obsession. With the media bombarding adolescents with images of super-thin models, and with TV shows fixating solely on appearance, teens are easily influenced. It is no wonder parents sometimes feel helpless when it comes to improving their daughters’ self-esteem. “We’re seeing girls at younger …

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 …