By: Dara Downs, Alumni & Family Services Liaison In mid April of 2016 we started the Eat Local Initiative at our Young Adult Program at Reeds Bay. This initiative was designed to help track the amount of produce being harvested, being cooked, as well as to help create motivation in the student milieu. It’s set …
By: Theresa Hasting, LMHC, Clinical Supervisor As students come and go in waves, I have seen an upsurge in students experiencing complicated grief issues. Mostly recently, I’ve worked with four students within a six month period who have experienced the loss of a parent; through long-term sickness, suicide, and unexpected accidental death. What these students …
By: Crystalee Mandaguit, Logistics Director Every year Pacific Quest hosts a special day for students and employees that focuses on the Makahiki celebration. This is an important season in Hawaiian culture and honors the God Lono and celebrates the abundance of the aina (land). The Makahiki celebration spans approximately four lunar months – from around …
By: Isabel Holmes, Academic Coordinator This month Pacific Quest will host two company wide Horticultural Therapy trainings. Last week, over 40 staff members gathered at Reed’s Bay for the first training. We were able to utilize the full campus and make the most of our garden experiences for staff and the land. The day included …
“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” – Hippocrates At Pacific Quest, we believe food is medicine. We provide whole foods, hypoallergenic, anti-inflammatory, and blood sugar balancing diet, rich in critical nutrients for optimizing health. There is a daily focus on healthy foods and nutritionally complete meals, which mainly consist of organic fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts, and …
By: Genell Howell, Primary Therapist Every week, therapists at Pacific Quest lead two group therapy sessions with students in the field. Why is this form of therapy important? This setting allows for greater accessibility of students to share some of the issues that they’ve been holding on to as well as develop greater trust within …
A group of Young Adult students recently had the opportunity to assist with a Sandalwood Restoration project on the slopes of Mauna Kea. After departing Reeds Bay, the group took a scenic drive to meet the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park rangers at the restoration site. The rangers explained the importance of this project and the …
Pacific Quest’s Young Adult Family Program: Breathing Life Into Relationships By: Dr. John Souza, Young Adult Family Program Therapist Ohana In Hawaiian culture the taro plant symbolizes family or “Ohana”. The word Ohana itself comes from the taro. The “Oha” are the new growth emerging from the corm, an underground storage organ that is the …
Pacific Quest’s Academic Coordinator Isabel Holmes was recently in San Francisco attending the Winter 2018 Learning and the Brain Conference. This event brought together hundreds of researchers, educators, clinicians, and school leaders from across the globe to explore the latest neuroscience research on innovation and creativity in an interdisciplinary forum. In sessions such as “Being …
Pacific Quest is proud to announce that Mike McGee, Family Program Manager, was awarded a National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Hawai`i scholarship! This scholarship supports social work students in good standing who are making a difference in their communities. The NASW Student Scholarships were first awarded in 2009 and aim to assist students in …