'You build relationships': New Haven hair stylists, barbers asked to help with mental health

Oct. 12--NEW HAVEN -- There are some professionals whose clients find it easy to talk to them and are willing to share a confidence they might not want others to know.

Clergy, almost by definition fit that category, but then there are about beauty salons and barber shops -- those refuges from a tough week where quiet personal conversations can occur or break into a communal discussion -- kind of an adult schoolyard.

The city is brain storming about places where conversations flow naturally and. with a little training, people can help steer others who may be experiencing stress in this time of COVID-19, racial reckoning and financial hardships, to resources that can help them.

Adriane Jefferson, arts and cultural director, is working with Dr. Mehul Dalal, the city's community services administrator, on creating bridges for people who would not feel comfortable on their own seeking mental health resources, but will open up to people they trust.

Adriane Jefferson is New Haven's director of Arts and Cultural Affairs.

Photo: Contributed photo /

About a special relationship between beauty salon personnel and their clients, "Oh, yes. I'm telling you," Jefferson said, reflecting on her own experience.

New Haven is partnering with BHcare, which is offering a short, free online course to equip these naturally empathetic listeners with some training on how to interact with clients in need and point to the available resources out there.

BHcare is a mental health organization with years of expertise in providing training, Dalal said. It also offers direct clinical services at its facilities in Branford and Ansonia.

In its Community Assistance Program, BHcare is working with New Haven, which wants to recruit salon operators and barbers at the moment, clergy for a second cohort and then members of the arts community. The webinar training sessions however, are open to the general public, with a cap of about 25 participants.

"The training is for anyone who is interested in educating themselves and being a little bit more knowledgeable about mental health," Dalal said. The next pair of CAP sessions is Nov. 10 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. and Nov. 12 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Registration for the sessions can be found on the APW-CT.org website and its Facebook page.

Michael Cantarella, a longtime hairdresser, who owns Richard Penna Hair in Hamden, said, "there is a certain trust and camaraderie" between the client and the stylist.

"You build relationships with them, the more that you see them," he said explaining why people confide in them.

"It is all about making people feel comfortable. When you get somebody into your chair, you are in their personal space," he said.

Cantarella said the personal sharing is unsolicited and kept confidential.

The social service administrator ties this outreach to a deeper philosophical underpinning.

"We recognize that mental health is not just going to a licensed mental health professional and getting talk therapy and medication. It is kind of a community responsibility -- our approach to community well being and community health," Dalal said. "What it all comes down to is we are all connected and we are all responsible for each others' well being."

New Haven City Hall June 2020

Photo: / Hearst Connecticut Media file photo /

There continues to be a stigma attached to mental health, Jefferson said, particularly in communities of color where people don't see themselves represented among clinicians or see how institutions can connect to their situations.

In a way, the training can be compared to CPR, where a lay person can step in and help before an emergency medical technician arrives.

Bringing greater educational awareness to the community around mental health, improves the chances that individuals in crisis will get referred in a timely fashion, Dalal said.

The administrator said the pandemic is a stressful time, particularly in the city, where some are at high risk of having a mental health crisis, including children, teens and front-line workers at businesses, as well as in health care. He said the elderly are also more isolated than ever.

Pam Mautte, division director at Alliance for Prevention and Wellness at BHcare, said the two 90-minute sessions on Zoom cover the basics of substance abuse, suicide ideation , disordered gambling, depression and anxiety.

"It helps folks who don't have a background (in mental health) or clinical training, with the basics of identifying what they are and how to address them," Dalal said.

Participants will be taught how to interact with people, rather than letting them suffer in silence.

"It's about empathy more than sympathy," Mautte said. "It's about capacity building," in the sense of more people understanding mental illness.

She gave the example of a client talking about problem gambling. She said the barber or stylist might reply: "I see it has already caused negative consequences for you. I know some resources that might be helpful." Mautte said.

The manager said, for the general public, the person in need could be a co-worker or a neighbor.

Mautte said it is often hard for people to pick up the phone and take the first step, unless they are encouraged.

She said during the pandemic, people are at higher risk of mental illness and substance abuse. "The more prevention we can do early and follow best practices, the better."

Dalal said the program for clergy will also ask that they spread the word about the courses to their congregants.

Pastor Walter Williams III, who took one of the courses, said he was grateful to learn that the ostracisation of addicts by their families only pushes them deeper into addiction.

"Immediately I began thinking of creative ways to increase community and fellowship with social distancing," he wrote to BHcare.

Dalal, who is also a medical doctor, had advice for everyone to follow for their own mental health.

He said one of them is to jump in and help other people, which a lot of New Haven residents have mastered.

"It takes the focus off your own individual issues and stress. We have seen a lot volunteering from food distribution to medical volunteers helping out with tests. Helping other people can be tremendously powerful," Dalal said.

He advised residents to take care of their bodies with healthful food and simple exercises such as walking, as well as engaging in meditation. One last recommendation: "take a break from the news. It is good to be informed, but if you are always on the news, that is going to get you caught in a cycle of stress."

There is no charge for the CAP program, nor for a separate one on Narcan, which can reverse the effect of a drug overdose. Mautte said in 2019, there were 1,200 accidental overdose deaths in the state. That course is open to anyone over the age of 18 and participants, at the end, will get a kit with Narcan.

Other free webinars cover suicide prevention and problem gambling. The suicide prevention webinair is called Question, Persuade, Refer and it is offered on Tuesday at noon, Oct. 27 at noon and Nov. 10 at noon. The Narcan training is Oct. 19 at 2 p.m., Oct. 20 at noon, Nov. 3 at noon and Nov. 103 p.m.

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