Afiya Mbilishaka, PhD, always loved doing hair.
[As a teenager], I was my familyshairstylist.
But I enjoyed it.
Getty Images / Bella Geraci
And she said, Why cant you do both?
Then, in 2019, she married her two passions by foundingPsychoHairapy.
PsychoHairapy is using hair as an entry point intomental healthservices, she says.
And then getting into how to impart insights or make referrals to resources.
Or, it could be because the trust hairdressers build with their clients extends beyond thebalayage.
I think a lot of it is just that we are in a business of people.
We’re building relationships, says Brooke Jordan, co-founder ofThe Bird Housesalon in Brooklyn, New York.
It’s like, You’re my person that I take care of now.
We want to know people’s lives.
Recently go through a break-up?
Lived through a pandemic?
Starting an exciting new job and want to make a great first impression?
Book anemo cutif this haircut is an extension of your current emotional state, the salons menu says.
[You might see] matting in the back, or analopeciaspot.
And [as a stylist], you just kind of listen.
The three-day training equips African hairstylists with the tools to identify signs of mental distress in their clients.
Thus far, 150 hairstylists in countries including Togo, Ivory Coast, and Cameroon have completed the course.
I went there every day after school because I was too young to stay home alone, Lewis says.
Theyre our safe space, he says.
In fact,less than 2 percentof American Psychological Association members identify as such.
The Confess Project, its about confession.
There are gatekeepers in our communities who have a responsibility to help other people, says Lewis.
We don’t want to turn [stylists] into doctors or therapists far from it, says Chapman.
The idea is that we can bridge the gap between the communities we serve and the resources available."
We gently remind them that their role isnt to be a rescuer.
A key part of [the training] is knowing how to maintain those boundaries, she says.
Because it’s really hard, isn’t it?
So [the course is] very much focused on, How do we keepyouwell in all of this?
Boundary-setting is part of PsychoHairapys training course as well.
In her work asThe Resilient Hairdresser, stylist and psychotherapist Hayley Jepson puts the hair professional first.
I’m concerned with: Who’s looking after the hairdresser?
We also need to help them process the trauma that’s being dumped on them sometimes.
And I think we do that through resilience training.
It’s stressful bleaching hair!
It’s quite a risk.
And dealing with the public is tough sometimes, says Jepson.
By 2025, the brand is hoping to have trained more than 100,000 pros.
When I talk about boundaries, I say to people, Boundaries protect what matters to you.
I’m mindful that sometimes what a client is talking about could be extremely triggering for a stylist.
Kay, meanwhile, says she finds support in her community of stylists at The Bird House.
We’ll go in the back room and say, Im having trouble with this.
A stylist recently told Jordan Hubert about one client who booked an emo cut following a breakup.
This client was really upset and crying in the chair.
That is so beautiful, this idea of the newness and that physical representation of moving on.
A haircut, she says, is never just about the hair.
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