Mental health experts are training barbers and stylists on how they can use their position in underserved communities as a resource.
Topics discussed include the prevalence of mental health issues, how hairdressers can start therapeutic conversations, and what resources they can direct their clients to for additional help.
Barbershop owner Damion Porters works with the organization Barbers Reaching Out to Help Educate on Routine Screenings, which helped organize the event. He says barbers have a unique opportunity to speak to many members of the community who may not have access to mental health services.
“So learning to recognize, learning to actively listen and help people heal from those situations is very important,” says Porters. “And then being in a barbershop environment, you always come across people who are having trauma, and it’s beautiful to have someone sit down and give you advice and resources on how to better those in your community.”
Dozens of barbers attended the event, including Christian Favorite, who works at Hunter Phillips Salon and Barber. He says that clients who sit in their chairs often have emotional baggage that remains unaddressed.
Favorite says, “I have clients who have faced situations that have been difficult in their lives and have had to get out of one situation to get better in another situation. And this helps me to have a different perspective of not only taking care of myself, but also taking care of them.”
Experts say 1 in 5 Mississippians experience mental illness each year, and about 42% of adults in the state experience symptoms of anxiety or depression.
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