Mental health pioneer extends training to beauty industry

Hair and beauty professionals can now be trained in focused listening skills to help them identify when clients are struggling with mental health issues.

Tom Chapman has developed Hair&BeautyTalk based on his multi award-winning BarberTalk training, which has already benefitted more than 2,000 hair professionals in the UK.

Chapman is the founder of The Lions Barber Collective, a group of barbers who are trained in how to recognise symptoms of mental ill health in clients and signpost them to relevant support services.

The training is intended to enable hair and beauty professionals to recognise the signs that someone may be struggling, giving them the skills to ask pertinent questions and give those who need it the permission and opportunity to talk in a safe environment while someone listens with empathy and without judgement.

Available without charge, Hair&BeautyTalk training will be provided in one four-hour session that will be available online as well as in person when coronavirus restrictions are lifted.

Having begun his career in hairdressing at Toni&Guy, Chapman founded the Lions Barber Collective after losing his friend to suicide.

He said: “In this industry, we have long-standing relationships with people and are there for all the highs and lows. Whether we like it or not, we have these conversations and I want to prepare the industry for these situations as they can be a matter of life and death.”