Heal By Hair

The women-centred backbone of the system.

Mental health care does not fail only because people hesitate to ask for help.
It fails, above all, because care rarely begins where trust already exists.

Impact data

BeninComing soon

SenegalComing soon

Heal by Hair^® is Bluemind Foundation’s award-winning, pioneering innovation: an integrated community mental health protocol created in Africa, built to scale across the continent — and designed to travel beyond it. It equips hairdressers to detect, listen to and support women in need and, when needed, connect them to professional mental health care and social services.

Training & role clarity

Through an intensive three-day training, followed by a structured six-month mentored follow-up, hairdressers receive free training delivered by psychiatrists and mental health professionals.

3Days intensive

6Months mentored

0Cost to trainee

Heal by Hair ambassador listening during a training session

3Days intensive

6Months mentored

0Cost to trainee

In compliance with ethical, safeguarding and confidentiality standards, hairdressers are trained to:

Recognise early signs of psychological distress.

Provide safe, non-judgmental listening.

Offer basic psychological first aid.

Identify situations requiring urgent or specialised support.

Activate appropriate referral and protection pathways.

They are not therapists.

They are first responders.

Hairdresser and client mid-conversation at the salon

Heal by Hair ambassadors in orange t-shirts, in a salon decorated with balloons, during a session with a young girl.

Each salon becomes a first door to care.

1,370Hairdressers trained to date

5,000Hairdressers trained by 2030

27.4% of the 2030 target reached.

Help train the next ambassadors

Smiling Heal by Hair ambassador during an indoor training session.

The training taught me to listen without carrying too much and to support without losing myself. I now recognize when a situation is beyond me. My mind is calmer, and home is too.

~320,000

women referred

Heal by Hair Circles

Each Circle consists of:

Six facilitated sessions on specific themes.

Ambassador facilitators trained in the community, with continuous professional supervision whenever needed or in an emergency.

No cost to participants, removing price as a barrier.

Clear safeguarding ethics and referral pathways when specialised care is needed.

The Circle didn’t end after six sessions. We still meet. We still support each other.

Discover the stories behind the impact

Documentary photograph of a Heal by Hair session

For acute, complex or high-risk cases, the system immediately activates structured referral pathways, in partnership with the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Women, toward therapists, health facilities and social services — particularly in cases of gender-based violence.

TherapistsHealth facilitiesSocial services & protection

With Heal by Hair, we don't replace professional care. We make it accessible.

Because women are already supported, informed and accompanied, referrals have a better chance of being accepted and of contributing to the full recovery of the women who need it.