From bereavements to cancer diagnoses, hairdresser Katie Mitchell has spent 24 years behind the chair, listening to the lives of her clients unfold.
She's developed a thick skin over time, accustomed to the deeply personal, and sometimes traumatic, stories people share without hesitation.
"People often feel it's a safe space to talk about their issues," she told AAP.
"You see the same people every six to eight weeks... they tend to open up and you get used to being a sounding board."
Fertility struggles, relationship breakdowns, and even cancer diagnoses are often shared freely in hair salons, leaving hairdressers carrying the emotional weight of their clients' trauma.
Those moments can still catch her off guard, leaving her overwhelmed when difficult conversations surface without warning.
"When I was early in my career, I had been doing a lady's hair for a long time and she came in and told me she wanted to dye (her hair) black," Ms Mitchell said.
"I asked how long she had been thinking about this... and she burst into tears and told me that her father had been diagnosed with terminal cancer.
"I'd only lost my father, three years beforehand, so that was quite full-on to navigate and sit there and listen without myself bursting into tears."
Research suggests salon workers are often expected to step into the role of pseudo therapists to clients who are looking to discuss personal issues without fear of judgement.
It comes after researchers conducted hundreds of interviews and surveys with hairdressers, beauticians and salon clients across Australia between 2017 and 2025 for the report.
"People are coming into the industry very young and a lot of the time, just out of school and they are not prepared for the things that clients are telling them," University of Melbourne's Hannah McCann said.
"They are hearing about illness, grief, death, mental health, domestic abuse, IVF. The space of a salon is one in which trust is developed.
"There's a joke in the industry that everyone should go to the salon because they are cheaper than therapists. But of course, we recognise they are not real therapists."
For many workers, there's little training in handling sensitive conversations, and limited support to help them build these skills.
In the report, one worker interviewed described tending to young terminally ill clients who only had weeks left to live.
In some instances, the salon worker was the only human contact these clients had outside of hospital.
"They'd be let out for one hour before they'd have to go back to the hospital and they knew they were going to die," the unidentified worker said in the report.
Dr McCann found workers often don't have time to psychologically process confronting interactions with clients due to the fast-paced nature of the job.
"Many of the salon workers interviewed reported feeling ill-prepared to handle some of their client's personal disclosures due to a lack of training," Dr McCann said.
"They also described a clear lack of support in terms of being able to debrief within salon after a challenging appointment.
"Workers are left to learn how to respond on the job, through a painful process of trial and error."
It's leading more workers to feel burnout, with the report finding that industry change is urgently needed.
That call is backed by Australian Hairdressing Council, a national industry body, which provides ongoing support for hair and barbering service providers.
"Burnout can absolutely happen in this industry," the council's chief executive Fiona Beamish told AAP.
"It's really important to understand, know the signs and create those really clear boundaries."
The peak body regularly runs mental health workshops for its members, with Ms Beamish saying it's common for clients to open up emotionally to their hairdressers.
"It's really important to learn the coping mechanisms of allowing to listen and show support and refer. The referral, is a key part of what we do," she added.
Researchers however are lobbying for salon-specific wellbeing training to be included in hair and beauty qualification programs.
The training hopes to assist in caring for clients' emotions while also helping workers manage their own, providing strategies to prevent and address burnout, and establishing appropriate boundaries.
It could make a real difference to the mental health of hairstylists, Beyond Blue clinical spokesperson Luke Martin said.
"Training can help hairstylists feel confident listening and showing care, without feeling they need to 'fix' the problem or take on a counselling role," Dr Martin told AAP.
"We also have to acknowledge the emotional impact this can have on hairstylists themselves. Hearing heavy stories day after day can take a toll, so they need support too through learning how to set boundaries, self-care and debriefing strategies, or to access support if they're affected by what they're hearing."
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