Dr Dougal Sutherland: Could barbers and hairdressers influence climate change or mental health?

We often think of influencers as being media celebrities, politicians, or people in the media, and that mental health care needs to be done by psychologists and counsellors. But new research suggests that people in your community who you have regular ongoing trusted and personal relationships with could also play a big role.  

Recent research looking at how hairdressers could influence people’s views and actions around climate change found that hairdressers were often already talking with clients about climate change and how to influence this. By introducing a few simple prompts —e.g. stickers on the mirrors, hairdressers commenting on their own initiatives to reduce water and recycle— conversations on the topic increased and clients reported they were more likely to take similar actions, both about their haircare and other things at home such as energy use.  

This research built on earlier studies which had looked at the effect barbers could have on the mental health of their clients, particularly for groups who typically don’t engage well with traditional mental health services (e.g. young men). With some training, barbers were able to monitor their client’s mental health, provide emotional support, and give some basic advice about where to go for help.  

In both these areas there were some key things that are thought to help:  

• Hairdressers and barbers often have regular ongoing relationships with clients, allowing them to regularly check-in with them. 
• There is often a warm and trusting relationship between the barber and their clients – we know from other psychology research that this type of relationship is central to any type of therapy going well. 
• Hairdressers and barbers are often seen by the public as cool and influential. They have some status within their communities where people look up to them – particularly true for barbers in places like Black communities in the USA. 

However, we do need to be careful, particularly in looking after barbers who might be providing mental health support. We want to make sure they are well equipped and have their own support, so they don’t feel unduly burdened by caring for people’s mental health problems as well as their hair. 

Innovative solutions like these might really help in nudging people towards making changes in their lives, either around climate change or mental health, and could be an efficient way to roll out widescale changes in health and wellbeing. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack team podcast
from News Talks.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
A't be Doogle Southerland is our clinical psychologist. He's with
Umbrella Well Being and he's with us this morning. You
got to google.

Speaker 3 (00:19):
C're a Jack.

Speaker 4 (00:20):
Yes, looking forward to the Phoenix Woman tonight at six
fifteen for hopefully a big win.

Speaker 2 (00:25):
Yeah, yeah, hopefully.

Speaker 3 (00:26):
I know.

Speaker 2 (00:26):
It's I mean, that would be amazing. It's I mean
the first Grand Final, but she would just be would
be an extraordinary you know, I mean Melbourne Cities. You
know they have what won three seasons straight. I think
the one the premiership and not the championship. Is that right?
So yeah, yeah, the regular season but not the final.
So yeah, lots on the line this evening. Anyway, you

(00:49):
have this incredible knack I don't know how you do
it of bringing us the most fascinating studies, the most
fascinating little academic studies that might not have come across
our desks otherwise. And this morning you have some really
interesting research that suggests hairdressers and barbers can influence people's
thoughts on climate change and more broadly, can help to

(01:09):
improve their clients' mental health.

Speaker 3 (01:12):
Yeah, it's It's fascinating, isn't it.

Speaker 4 (01:14):
It's you know, if you if you think about when
you go and get your haircut, you know, it usually
starts with how's your davyen?

Speaker 3 (01:20):
Or how's your week been? How have you been?

Speaker 4 (01:23):
So there's there's that, there's that process of often people
have a regular, ongoing relationship with their hair dress or
the barber. And and look, the stuff around mental health
really came out of this searching round for trying to see, look,
how can we make positive influence on people's mental health
without everybody having to go and see a psychologist or

(01:43):
a counselor because simply there aren't enough psychologists or counselors
and you don't know, not everybody needs to see one either.
But so they kind of started looking at, well, who
are influential people in our lives and and you know,
came up with.

Speaker 3 (01:58):
The idea of what about barbers, what about hair dresses?

Speaker 4 (02:00):
These are people who have this ongoing relationship and so yeah,
they looked there's been a series of studies now looking
at how barbers, particularly in hairdresses, can potentially influence people's
mental health. Not you know, we're not trying to train
them to be psychologists or anything like that, but just

(02:20):
being able to it's regularly checking in with somebody, giving
them some emotional support and with just a little bit
of training, potentially equipping them to help people figure out,
you know, where might be a good place to go
if they need further help, or just you know, just
being able to chat and unload about there about how
they're going.

Speaker 3 (02:38):
And it seems to be quite effective.

Speaker 2 (02:40):
So they've looked at the areas where there are kind
of some key things that the can can help at least,
you know, can help to foster a stronger relationship and
can assist both clients and here dresses or barbers. So
how does it work? What are those areas?

Speaker 3 (02:53):
Yeah, look, the probably the core, well two cores.

Speaker 4 (02:57):
Perhaps one is the regular the fact that you see
somebody regularly so you can check in with it, you know,
every six weeks or so, how you're going since I
last saw you, which is you know, a thing that
counselors and psychologists all the time. You know, good to
see you again, been a couple of weeks has it been?
So there's firstly, there's that regular relationship, so you build
up some trust and the other key part really is

(03:19):
that that you know, it's a warm, trusting relationship, and
that's at the heart of any therapeutic, you know, counseling
or psychology session. You've got to get on with the person.
If you don't really like them, If you don't get
on with them, you probably won't go back. And people
will have had that with their barber. Oh he was
a bit of a dick, but I'm not going to

(03:40):
go back there. But I really liked him, so I'm
going to go back and see him. So it's that
it's and I think I think too, there's something extra
there about when you're getting your haircut. It's kind of
you know, it's it's it's intimate. And I don't mean
that in a you know, a modu in a romantic way.
It's just an intimate relationship. People are touching you. Somebody

(04:01):
else is touching you, and we don't have a lot
of that in our day to day lives, and they're
touching you for quite a while, and so it's quite
a personal, tight, intimate relationship. Yeah, And I think that
probably adds to it as well, that that you can
build up that sense of hey, I can just talk
to this guy about what's going on in my life,
and how many of us have got good advice from
our barbers or head dresses about something.

Speaker 3 (04:21):
You know, Yeah, that's a idea if you go and
do that.

Speaker 2 (04:24):
Yeah, it's interesting too. You sort of force to you're
forced to stop, which I think might be part of it.
You know, like as someone who's having the haircut, there's
not a lot else you can do while having a haircut,
And I reckon for some people that wouldn't necessarily happen
all together often, But also the kind of convention is
that you at least have some conversation. Yeah. I know

(04:48):
there'll be some people who go to the hair dresser
and just say, hey, sorry, I just don't want to
talk today, and.

Speaker 3 (04:51):
That's yeah, it's fine, do you.

Speaker 2 (04:52):
But I reckon for most people, the kind of social
convention is that you talk, and because you're talking, you
kind of you know, you are subconsciously building trust and
building rapport and building a relationship. And if it is
someone you get along with, then it's little wonder than
actually you start to I mean, there's probably a reason
that you know, the kind of cliche is that hair
dresses always have the best gossip, right.

Speaker 4 (05:13):
Yeah, that that's I'm warrant to cliche.

Speaker 3 (05:18):
Yeah, absolutely, you have people texting in and them.

Speaker 4 (05:22):
I think also there's something about it. It's it's time
just for you. So I you know, when I when
I'm getting a haircut, it's almost I don't feel a
huge compulsion to be asking there that my barber about himself.
It's it's kind of like, this is time about me,
and so that the conversation gets directed towards you as

(05:42):
an individual rather than you know, most social relationships that's
sort of a bit of balance.

Speaker 3 (05:47):
You're asking about them and they ask about you, et cetera.
But this is a bit more No, it's focused.

Speaker 4 (05:50):
On you, and I think it's it's you know, it's
it's great opportunity to try and find people in our
just in our everyday lives that can be an influence.
You know, you mentioned at the top around influencing around
recycling and climate change, and they did a study where
they looked at giving hairdresses a little bit of training

(06:12):
around climate change and what could be done, and then
having some you know, just some little stickers on the
mirror that prompted people to ask about them, and then
the hair dress was say, oh, Yeah, look, this is
what we are doing for our climate, you know, we're
doing for recycling and and and their clients reported that
they were much more likely to go away and do
that themselves and even extend it. So it's that role

(06:33):
of Yeah, it's the role of people as an everyday
people as influencers rather than you know, a TikTok star
or a movie star being an influence. Everyday people being
an influence on your life and behavior changes that you
that you make because somebody else who's who has a
role in your life has suggested it or was said

(06:55):
that they are doing it as well.

Speaker 2 (06:56):
Yeah, that is so interesting. Thank you very much. Doogle
have a great weekend and yeah, yeah, I look forward
to how you can possibly top this one. I don't
know where are you getting these what are you subscribing
to it.

Speaker 3 (07:09):
There's a whole range, yes, through them sometimes, but yeah,
there's a whole range of things that I have to
look at.

Speaker 2 (07:13):
They're very interesting.

Speaker 1 (07:14):
Yeah, thank you for more from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame.
Listen live to News Talks' b from nine Am, saturday
or follow the podcast On. iHeartRadio