Kappiness stirs a fresh brew for mental wellness

 While most startup founders focus on software and hardware products and services, one group of youngsters based in Trivandrum has chosen a social cause as their venture – mental wellness. They say the mental health of society has undergone significant changes with the times, and its treatment and analysis must keep pace.

That is when Prabin PB, Neha Padayan and Jixon Punnoose established a mental health café and therapeutic centre called Kappiness in Trivandrum – a space that blends counselling services with a relaxed, café-like setting. It offers therapy sessions, support groups, informal conversations, activities and other engagements.

Their aim is to take counselling out of its stigma-ridden image of visiting a clinic, a dedicated health facility or a doctor’s home. The founders have located their multi-room facility in a large, leafy compound surrounded by trees. It feels like a home, offering far more tranquillity than a modern healthcare centre.

The startup says it keeps counselling and interactions with professionals informal and casual, so visitors feel like they have dropped in for a coffee and a friendly chat rather than entering a doctor–patient setting. The facilities include a mud house, a garden retreat and rooms for one-to-one conversations.

Breaking Stigma: It employs over half a dozen professionally trained experts who help with personal and professional issues. Engagement opportunities are offered both offline and online, and Prabin says they even have people from overseas reaching out through their website.

He says the idea behind Kappiness is to keep its programmes aligned with changing times. “We have campaigns against problems like alcoholism. But the thrust of such campaigns has remained the same and is often based on crossing lines set by parents or similar value systems. That has not changed with the times or made it attractive to today’s youngsters. We try to change that.”

On the other hand, older people often view counselling as treatment for mental illness, leading to stigma. Prabin recalled an incident when a school head introduced a newly arrived counsellor as a ‘mind reader’. Students were told the counsellor could uncover their thoughts, prompting them to hide things, he said with a laugh. “That kind of approach will make any counsellor’s work difficult.”

Kappiness organises interactive programmes and expert-led talk sessions on modern-day issues such as eating disorders. This helps widen its audience and draw more people to the centre.

Interactive Formats: He says they try to innovate and introduce gaming elements to make activities more engaging. One such initiative involved blindfolding participants and asking them to interact. This removed the fear of being judged, as they could not see who they were speaking to, only hear their voice. “This led to a lot of productive interaction in a fun way,” says Prabin.

The centre also provides internships to students interested in counselling as a career, with some continuing as volunteers.

Prabin says youngsters often volunteer during their college years, but once they begin working, there are few platforms to continue such engagement. This gap was a key idea behind the project established by the NGO Nadi Foundation, headed by Prabin.

“The idea was to create a friendly, welcoming space where one can drop in, have a coffee and relax. Engaging a counsellor or professional to deal with stress or emotional wellbeing is a difficult choice, given the stigma that exists in our society. Kappiness is a place where you can drop in and relax – it is not like going to a clinic or a professional centre.”

Future Plans: The team now plans to expand into a family-focused mental wellness model and open a new centre at Kazhakuttam on a 1.5-acre plot. The idea is to create a larger space where people can spend an entire day, with boarding facilities as well. Activities in a tranquil environment will be central to the experience, says Prabin.

The group is also in talks with IT companies to develop programmes that benefit employees and improve their mental outlook through creative engagement.

Kappiness has registered with Startup India and is in discussions with Kerala Startup Mission for scaling support. The startup also plans to approach companies for CSR backing to expand its mental wellness initiatives in rural areas and support students who often lack access to opportunities available to their urban counterparts.

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