Pacific Quest

Bridging the Gap Between Therapy and Home

Wilderness Therapy programs are residential treatment facilities for troubled youth or wayward teenagers with an array of emotional and behavioral upsets. Depending on the program, problem teens live for weeks or even months learning about themselves through both the wilderness element and therapeutic sessions of these programs. While the therapeutic atmosphere offers daily opportunity for

Benefits of Wilderness Treatment

Wilderness treatment programs for troubled teens are producing young adults more in tune with who they are and how their behaviors are created and handled. Wilderness therapy camps are not just residential programs for young people with behavioral issues like truancy and lack of motivation alone. Some are designed to handle teens using drugs, alcohol

Wilderness Therapy Program Pillars of Health: Exercise & Movement

By Pacific Quest Move well, live well. Striving for optimal wellness involves taking care of the physical body. Exercise intensity, however, is different for different bodies—ages, current health, special considerations, along with a variety of other variables. One thing is certain: exercise does more than improve the physical body, it helps improve the emotions as

Sustainable Growth At Pacific Quest

By Dr. Jessica Romeyn Last week I had the opportunity to visit Pacific Quest in lovely Hawaii. Located on the Big Island in Hilo, Pacific Quest (PQ) is not your average wilderness program. Created by Mike and Suzanne McKinney, PQ has 2 programs; one for adolescents and the other, young adults. The model for the programs

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

Staff Vision Fast

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,

Hawaii Ranks #1 Fifth Year in a Row

Recent results of the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index ranked Hawaii as the number one state for overall well-being. The categories that were considered in the index include emotional health, life evaluation, work environment, physical health, healthy behaviors, and basic access to necessities. The Aloha State has ranked number one for five consecutive years!    

Doing Less With Less

By Raylene Moses, HR Manager It took one or two gray hairs to learn this principle: Doing more with less is the swiftest and most reliable path to failure. Yes, I said it: failure. On the surface and for the short term, it looks, at least on a spreadsheet, that doing more with less is

Raising the Bar

By JD Daubs, Admissions Director I’ve had the opportunity to work in our industry for 10 years and have seen wilderness programs adapt, change and respond to the growing therapeutic and clinical needs of students and families.  In my opinion, there’s not a better treatment option for families that have exhausted most or even at