LYNCHBURG, Va. (WDBJ) – At ‘The Beauty of Mental Wellness’ event in the Hill City, Horizon Behavioral Health teamed up to educate future with future hair stylists to promote mental health education to their clients.
The event took place at the Sylvain Melloul International Hair Academy. The crowd included students, hairdressers, and others from the community who want to learn.
Students received a thorough lesson on how to help clients who might be feeling down or struggling with tough emotions, even thinking about hurting themselves.
On Monday, Horizon specialists gave the stylists some helpful questions and tools to chat with their clients about tough stuff like feeling down, stressed, or even having dark thoughts. They stressed the importance of building good relationships with clients and always being there to listen.
A portion of the lesson focused on addressing suicide.
The training was all about teaching stylists how to handle sensitive topics like mental health with care and understanding.
The specialists also made sure the stylists knew where to point clients for mental health support when needed.
“People tend to open up to their stylists, whether they’re talking about like live events, things that are happening in life, a major challenges or just how they’re feeling internally.” said Januwaa Davis, Prevention Program Manager with Horizon. “So we feel like the more our stylists, our barbers are able to open up those conversations, recognize when someone may be struggling, the more likely they may be able to get the individual the help that they need.”
The hope is the students will take what they’ve learned out into their communities, hoping to make a positive difference in their clients’ mental health in their future careers.
WDBJ7 spoke to one of the hair stylists attending about how she addresses mental health in her salon.
“I’m always checking in with my clients, always engaging in conversation, how’s it going, hey how do you feel, kids, life? It gives them an opportunity to just vent if they need to. In the salon we like to create an atmosphere where they feel welcome, they feel like they can talk to us,” said Tamela Harris, Owner of Imagine Salon Inc.
Anyone struggling with their mental health can call 9-8-8 for a suicide and crisis hotline.
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