Imagine building a high rise - so much time and effort is focused developing a strong foundation and carefully developed infrastructure to ensure that the building will stand for decades. A child’s brain develops the same way. In the first three years, much more development, wiring and growth happens than in all subsequent years. Early relationships have permanent effects on brain development, health, and later mental health and social functioning. That is why Forty Carrots believes in intervening early—to ensure that every child can experience positive early relationships to become more resilient to stress and develop other aspects of emotional regulation. From our Infant Mental Health services offered at CYESIS Teen Parenting Program at Riverview High School to our Child & Family Therapy services offered at the Parenting Center, we provide different models and therapeutic approaches to help children, adolescents, and families facing myriad challenges. Our team of educators approach each parent or child with compassion and knowledge backed by years of training and expertise to find the support that each individual needs to tackle the barriers that they are facing. Forty Carrots agrees with the idea that early childhood mental health can be considered to be synonymous with healthy social and emotional development. Infants and children exist in the context of relationships, so we must focus on these relationships with the same fervent energy that we focus on children. For more information about the mental health services provided by Forty Carrots, contact Christina Rodrigues, Parenting Program Director. 

Forty Carrots Family Center is a 2015 SRQ Story Project partner and the featured non-profit organization this May. To learn more about the numerous education and outreach programs provided by Forty Carrots, visit them online at FortyCarrots.org or call (941) 365-7716.