Education

A New Perspective in Wilderness & Horticultural Therapy

This article, written by Travis Slagle, Horticultural Therapy Director, was recently published in the AHTA News Magaizine, a quarterly publication of the American Horticultural Therapy Association. In the classic Hawaiian gardener’s book, Tropical Organic Gardening: Hawaiian Style author Richard Stevens famously wrote, “The art of gardening and the art of living come together in the

Adolescents Visit Manuka State Park

Recently, a group of the adolescent students had the opportunity to explore the rare and fascinating, two-mile loop trail at Manuka State Park. Manuka is a Natural Area Reserve, and one of the nineteen different reserves within the statewide Natural Area Reserves System. The Big Island of Hawaii island has eight reserves to call its

Ecological Concepts and Application on the Human Scale

By Mike McGee, Field Supervisor Around the year 1500, an old growth Ohia Lehua tree came crashing to the ground near the present day town of Volcano, HI.  It made a thunderous crash although no one was there to witness it.  It destroyed the undergrowth around it and killed many individual organisms that depended on

A Year on the Path of Growth

By Rob Jarrett, Admissions & Parent Communication Director It’s a Thursday afternoon at 2PM PST and my blog article is due tomorrow. I know I’m taking it all way too seriously, but I just reread and deleted the rough draft that I have been working on for the last couple of weeks. As tempted as

An Integrated Approach

By Mike Sullivan, Therapist As a major figure in 17th century continental rationalism, Rene Descarte’s perspectives fueled western philosophy, allowing him to become dubbed “the father of modern philosophy.”  While Descarte offered valuable insights, his emphasis on the mind- body split (later to be coined Cartesian dualism), has catalyzed a perspective that continues to dominate

A Growing Concern

The following article by Diana Ballon was featured in Cross Currents-The Journal of Addiction and Mental Health Autumn 2012 | Vol 16 No 1.   A Growing Concern Horticulture therapy offers potent opportunities for healing and growth By Diana Ballon Work in the garden “takes priority over interacting with my symptoms,” says Toshio Ushiroguchi-Pigott. “It’s

The Healing Power of Water

By Chris McConnell, Program Supervisor Reeds Bay Aloha, my name is Chris and I have worked with Pacific Quest for a little over two years. During this time, I have seen this company go through enormous transformation, and have watched it grow into one of the most progressive therapy programs in the country. I am

The Land Dance: Farming as Initiation

By Travis Slagle, Horticultural Therapy Director The following article was published in ‘Circles on the Mountain’ Rites of Passage in a Rapidly Changing World, Issue #17, 2013.  This is an annual publication of the Wilderness Guides Council. Imagine what the world would be like if wilderness guides of the future became organic farmers. What if

Pacific Quest Launches Two New Sites, One Great Address!

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