"Supporting Better Mental Health in the Black Community, One Stylist and Barber at a Time."
May 2026
UCHealth Today
Alex Reed, PsyD, Director of Behavioral Health Education and Associate Professor in the University of Colorado Anschutz Department of Family Medicine, and co-leader of Project HairCare, was featured in a UCHealth Today article titled "Supporting Better Mental Health in the Black Community, One Stylist and Barber at a Time," highlighting Project HairCare’s impact in the Black community.
Project HairCare is a joint initiative of the Colorado Black Health Collaborative and the CU Anschutz School of Medicine, co-led by Dr. Reed and Terri Richardson, MD. The program aims to help stylists and barbers better support their clients’ mental health and encourage individuals to seek help when needed.
Accompanied by a powerful video, the article shares how Project HairCare was inspired by a client and her hairstylist, who helped save her life, and how that moment grew into an impactful and evolving program. Today, Project HairCare has formally trained 26 Denver-area stylists and barbers, equipping them with specialized tools to better understand mental illness and identify and guide clients in critical situations.
From the article:
“[Dr. Reed] has been thrilled with the response to the program, and he and Dr. Richardson hope to expand Project HairCare.
‘We provide trainings that focus on depression, anxiety, PTSD, substance misuse and mental wellness and well-being,’ Reed said. ‘We give the stylists and barbers tools and handouts so they can talk with their clients about mental health issues.’
An unanticipated bonus of the program was that along with receiving training, the barbers and stylists loved forming a new community with each other.
‘The program became a support group for the barbers and stylists themselves. They shared their own mental health issues,’ Reed said. ‘They provide a sacred space in the community for their clients. Project HairCare, in turn, created a sacred space for them.’”
Read more and watch the video from UCHealth Today.
(Cover image on behalf of UCHealth Today)
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