Session 421: PsychoHairapy, Exploring Hair & Mental Health
Therapy for Black Girls
iHeartPodcasts and Joy Harden Bradford, Ph.D.
4.8 • 5.7K Ratings
🗓️ 23 July 2025
⏱️ 48 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This week, we are joined by Dr. Afiya Mbilishaka, a clinical psychologist, hairstylist, professor, and the founder of “PsychoHairapy,” an innovative approach that uses hair care as an entry point into mental health in the Black community. As Black women, our hair is more than just what’s at the surface. It shapes identity, signals care, and holds cultural memory. In our conversation, Dr. Afiya and I dig into the deep, emotional, and historically nuanced ties we have to our hair, and how that relationship can mirror our mental health.
About the Podcast
The Therapy for Black Girls Podcast is a weekly conversation with Dr. Joy Harden Bradford, a licensed Psychologist in Atlanta, Georgia, about all things mental health, personal development, and all the small decisions we can make to become the best possible versions of ourselves.
Resources & Announcements
We're building our TBGU Advisory Council and are looking for some amazing young women to join us! The Advisory Council will be made up of traditionally college-aged young Black women (18-23) who are passionate about shaping conversations around mental health and the experiences of this community. This group will be instrumental in helping to develop content for the TBGU podcast and social media channels. Please go here if you're interested in learning more or applying.
Did you know you can leave us a voice note with your questions for the podcast? If you have a question you'd like some feedback on, topics you'd like to hear covered, or want to suggest movies or books for us to review, drop us a message at memo.fm/therapyforblackgirls and let us know what’s on your mind. We just might share it on the podcast.
Grab your copy of Sisterhood Heals.
Where to Find Our Guest
Dr. Afiya on IG - @dr_afiya
Psychohairapy on IG - @psychohairapy
Website - psychohairapy.org
Stay Connected
Join us in over on Patreon where we're building community through our chats, connecting at Sunday Night Check-Ins, and soaking in the wisdom from exclusive series like Ask Dr. Joy and So, My Therapist Said.
Is there a topic you'd like covered on the podcast? Submit it at therapyforblackgirls.com/mailbox.
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Our Production Team
Executive Producers: Dennison Bradford & Maya Cole Howard
Director of Podcast & Digital Content: Ellice Ellis
Producers: Tyree Rush & Ndeye Thioubou
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Therapy for Black Girls podcast, a weekly conversation about mental health, personal development, and all the small decisions we can make to become the best possible versions of ourselves. |
| 0:23.8 | I'm your host, Dr. Joy Harden Bradford, a licensed psychologist in Atlanta, Georgia. |
| 0:30.0 | For more information or to find a therapist in your area, visit our website at Therapy for Blackgirls.com. While I hope you love listening to |
| 0:40.4 | and learning from the podcast, it is not meant to be a substitute for a relationship with a licensed |
| 0:47.1 | mental health professional. |
| 0:56.5 | Hey y'all. |
| 1:00.2 | Thanks so much for joining me for session 421 of the Therapy for Black Girls podcast. |
| 1:01.5 | We'll get right into our conversation after a word from our sponsors. |
| 1:09.0 | This is an I-Heart podcast. |
| 1:17.9 | Okay. This is an I-Heart podcast. This week, we're joined by Dr. Ophia and Billy Shaka, a clinical psychologist, hairstylist, professor, and the founder of psychoherapy, an innovative approach that uses hair care as an |
| 1:29.2 | entry point into mental health in the black community. As black women, our hair is more than just |
| 1:34.8 | what's at the surface. It shapes identity, signals care, and holds cultural memory. In our conversation, |
| 1:41.9 | Dr. Afia and I dig into the deep, emotional, and historically nuanced |
| 1:45.8 | ties we have to our hair and how that relationship can mirror our mental help. |
| 1:51.1 | If something resonates with you while enjoying our conversation, please share with us on |
| 1:55.3 | social media using the hashtag TBG in session. |
| 1:58.7 | Or join us over on our Patreon channel to talk more about the episode. |
| 2:02.9 | You can join us at community.com. |
| 2:04.8 | For Blackgirls.com. |
| 2:06.9 | Here's our conversation. |
| 2:11.1 | Thank you so much for joining us today, Dr. Fia. |
| 2:13.8 | I'm so happy to be here. |
... |
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