Hairstylists Have Always Been Mental Health Caretakers. Now, They’re Being Trained for It

With its Beyond the Shop program, TCP trains barbers and hairstylists to become mental health advocates in their communities. Certified therapists, public health professionals, and educators teach participants “ways of active listening, validation, positive communication, and stigma reduction,” says Lewis. “The Confess Project, it’s about confession. When you confess, you are your best… Our work is really rooted in removing the barriers of stigma and shame [surrounding] mental health.”

To date, TCP has trained over 3,000 barbers who are able to reach an estimated 4 million people per year across 30 states. And in the past year, TCP has begun rolling out programs to bring its evidence-backed training to community guardians and frontline workers in other professions, such as law enforcement officers, community health workers, teachers, and personal trainers. “There are gatekeepers in our communities who have a responsibility to help other people,” says Lewis.

In the United Kingdom, barber, author, and public speaker Tom Chapman similarly saw an opportunity to reach men in need of mental health support at the barbershop. In 2015, he founded the Lions Barber Collective, “an international collection of top barbers which have come together to help raise awareness for the prevention of suicide,” according to the organization’s website.

“Seventy-two percent of those who take their life have had no contact with mental health services in the 12 months before they die, but they have probably had a haircut or beauty treatment,” Chapman says, citing a statistic published by the American Psychiatric Association. With Hair&BeautyTalk (formerly BarberTalk), the Lions Barber Collective facilitates training for salon workers to recognize the signs of depression and suicidal thoughts, engage the client in conversation about their mental health, and direct them to the appropriate support avenues.

In 2020, Chapman began partnering with the hair salon software company Timely to bring educational materials to the platform’s audience of 50,000 hair professionals. In March 2023, Timely began offering a version of Chapman’s Lions Barber Collective training program as a masterclass, available to download for free.

Taking care of the caretakers

None of these training programs are meant to replace professional mental health services. “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.”