Blog

By Alex Stitt, MS The journey both to and through Pacific Quest is exactly that, a quest. A quest is a very specific journey. It’s a Hero’s Journey, and like so many hero’s journeys the adventure is so often the reward. As always, our intrepid explorer sets out on a mission to find an elixir …

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 Darcy Ottey, Rite of Passage Supervisor We sit in a circle long into the darkening night, not far from South Point, Hawaii, the southernmost tip of the United States.  One by one, each person shares the story of what brought them here, and with this story, the intent that they have been meditating on, …

By Travis Slagle, Horticulture Therapy Director Imagine what the world would be like if wilderness therapists of the future became organic farmers.  What if the people entrusted to witness life’s most significant transitions traded in the more esoteric theories of eco-psychology and wilderness survival for a simple shovel and pitch fork?  For many people, the …

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 …

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 …

In her book Letters to a Young Therapist, Mary Pipher shares volumes of insight into the process of therapy.  Toward the end of the book Pipher points to the importance of helping clients develop a “new story.”  She says “We therapists are primarily storytellers.  Most clients need stories that allow them to view the world …

Here is an excerpt from the initial letter we received from guides Joseph LaZenka and Petra Lentz regarding the PQ staff vision quest.  We are planning a seven day program that focuses on a three day fast and solo experience. The letter sent chills up my spine, as I am faced with “the call.”  Expect …