Haircut and a yarn part of positive mental health initiative
A trauma specialist by trade, Brian Dowd said the moment someone takes a seat in his barber’s chair, something special happens.
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Men aren’t the best at opening up about their mental health and wellbeing, but one Gamilaroi man is helping to break down this barrier.
Brian Dowd from award-winning Walkabout Barber visited Grafton, Maclean and Yamba for a special Aboriginal Men’s Health event, providing a platform for the region’s Indigenous men to talk about and learn how to manage their own mental health journey in a less-confronting environment.
A trauma specialist by trade, Mr Dowd said the moment someone takes a seat in his barber’s chair, something special happens. They start to talk.
“A lot of the time our men don’t talk, they don’t share, they keep it to themselves. But the concept of the Walkabout Barber is men can sit in the chair and have a yarn,” he said.
“A lot of people, no matter where we come from. Black, white, it doesn’t matter, we all go through events where we take on trauma from loss, grief, abuse, neglect, addiction, bad habit, whatever it is, it leaves a mark on our journey and if you don’t know how to remove that mark it becomes a crack in the foundation of who you are and what you do.”
Having gone through struggles with his own mental health when he was younger, Mr Dowd’s concept of combining a haircut with a yarn has helped countless communities around Australia combat Indigenous youth suicide and mental health issues.
“For us it’s about helping people cleanse and heal and un-program the sh*tty stuff they’ve got and reprogram the positive stuff they have yet to go through and apply that to their lives,” he said.
“If there’s some stuff that is really deep and needs to be dealt with, I’ll sit with that person and we’ll get them referred onto the right space so that they can look after their spiritual, emotional and mental wellbeing.”
On Wednesday, Mr Dowd popped into Maclean Hospital with his barber tools in hand to surprise two patients who were unable to make it to the event. The experience brought Mr Dowd to tears.
The three-day event held across the Clarence Valley has been the initiative of Bundjalung man Robert Monaghan who wants to see the region expand its mental health knowledge and awareness.
“When I first started this project, I ran a survey to get a snapshot of what people from all over the Clarence Valley thought of mental health and where they could go for with services. Across the Valley it was really divided on their knowledge of mental health,” he said.
“There was a gap in knowledge about mental health services. A lot of people related it to the mental health unit at the hospital. So these days were all about giving people that opportunity to see that there are multiple resources and services available to them, people they can talk to.
“It’s also important for people to realise that reaching out for support might not be for a mental health issue either. It could be an anger issue or something; it’s that underlying part of a man’s health and wellbeing that we don’t address so it’s great we have something like the Walkabout Barber to come along and provide a new way of having that conversation.”
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