People, Purpose, Place
Engaging Youth with the 3 P’s
People
C4CC creates opportunities for connection and building a sense of belonging. This is important because loneliness is associated with higher rates of depression, anxiety, and suicide.
Place
C4CC operates from a 40-acre working farm in Chatham County with opportunities for youth to engage in the gardens and participate in holistic workshops to promote well-being and connection (mindfulness, play, expressive art, music therapy, occupational therapy, nutrition and more) with nature as a therapeutic backdrop.
Purpose
C4CC helps youth explore what they love, envision their dreams, and participate in meaningful activities to uncover their passion(s). A sense of purpose in life is linked to lower levels of depression, higher hope, self-efficacy, and better psychological health overall and academic performance.
An innovative way of thinking about youth mental health
C4CC offers an innovative way of thinking about youth mental health focused on connection, prevention, and early intervention. Evidence suggests that effective prevention and early intervention in youth mental health requires an integrated, multidisciplinary, creative approach.
Mental health professionals have the scientific, ethical, and moral responsibility to engage all social, political, and other health care bodies involved in the process of meeting mental health needs during youth years. It is a big, bold task, but C4CC believes in taking an ecological approach to mental health equity and occupational justice. And we do it while centering the three P’s.
Former director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), Dr. Thomas Insel lifts up the concept of the 3 P’s in his book Healing: Our Path from Mental Illness to Mental Health. The three P’s - people, place, and purpose - are vital to mental health and well-being. Insel describes “people” as social support; “place” as a safe, supportive environment; and “purpose” as a reason for being – “having something that you care about, and can wake up for.”
The three P’s are core to C4CC’s occupational therapy-centered, multi-disciplinary, holistic, collaborative approach to promote youth mental health and well-being. We are piloting our model in 2024-2024 to provide prevention and early intervention to youth experiencing mental distress, to prevent serious mental illness among youth in North Carolina. Join us.