hair loss?
There aren’t a lot of places to talk about the impact hair loss has on a woman’s self-esteem.
Moxie Parlour is more than a hair salon. Moxie is also a gathering space, welcoming all of the feelings about body and self-image. At my salon, I help introduce new ways to approach being a woman with hair loss in today’s culture.
Together, we take the journey toward self-acceptance, and the truth…We are more than just our hair.
Hair Loss in women is more common than you think.
We all have a tendency to assume we are the only one. That no one will understand. That it’s superficial to panic about our hair when there are bigger problems in the world. We keep it to ourselves, we spend money on medical visits, medications, alternative hair, and other products and “solutions”. We avoid socializing, outdoor events, the rain, the wind, the sun and intimacy for fear our hair loss will be exposed.
That’s exactly why I created this support group.
It is possible to live a full life without a full head of hair. Yes, there are medical and cosmetic “solutions”….but
what if you could feel secure in your own skin despite your hair loss?
Connect with other women who get it
Hi! I’m Emily. I’m here for all of it. Your hair, your feelings, and your journey being a human in this weird and wonderful world.
When my hair started falling out, I went into a panic. I visited dermatologists, endochronologists, gynecologists, trichologists, and felt defeated when there was little they could do to help me reverse my hair loss. I experimented with different hairstyles, powders, sprays, toppers, and wigs. It was a difficult, and expensive process to conquer alone, but I was too self-conscious to talk about it with friends and family. I felt hopeless, embarrassed, and alone.
Knowing there were other women like me would have helped!
Causes of Hair Loss
Alopecia, auto-immune disorders, hormone changes, reactions to medications, and our genes are some of the more common reasons for hair loss in women. For some it is reversible, but many of us are left with the lifelong challenge of managing our feelings and our appearance. Managing hair loss takes up a lot of mental, emotional, and physical time and space day to day.
I often hear from the folks that I work with things like “If I had my hair back the way it was, I would be happy”. I often felt the same way! It took a long time and a lot of self-exploration and growth to begin the search for happiness that moved beyond hair.
I’
I’ve been working as a hairstylist helping people “work with what they’ve got” for over 20 years. I have a private studio where clients can talk about their experience, experiment with products, and try on alternative hair pieces without the self-consciousness it often causes to be in a busy salon.
In 2006, I began using the salon as a meeting space for clients with a curiosity about how others work with their hair loss. It grew into a safe and supportive community that still meets today!
In 2009 it became clear that Moxie Parlour was going to be more than a hair salon- I wanted to provide a place where folks could get curious about the relationship they had to the person they see in the salon mirror. I was interested in the whole person, beyond the reflection. I decided to go back to school, and did a year long integrative health coaching certification program ,which gave me deeper insight into how I could support my clients more thoroughly.
In 2012, I felt a pull towards community mental health, pursued a masters degree in counseling psychology, and got licensed as a Marriage and Family Therapist.
Now I get to bridge my two skill sets, hair and counseling!
In this new iteration of building group and community, I have developed an 8-week workshop focusing on some of the most talked about topics in our group. This group is a place to begin your hair loss journey with other women in various stages of their hair loss.
This new group provides a safe space to look in-between and beyond the causes of and solutions for hair loss. It is an 8-week supportive workshop where we will reflect on the impact hair loss has had on your life, learn coping strategies for the anxiety hair loss can cause, and build community with other women who get it.
In this supportive 8 week workshop, you will….
Have a safe and validating space to tell our personal hair story
Uncover and nurture the grief and loss of our hair
Learn and practice coping strategies for moments of grief, panic, self-consciousness, and stress
Cultivate confidence in social situations, romantic relationships, and unwanted attention at the workplace
Some topics we will explore (but are not limited to)
Mindfulness and Self-Compassion through writing, journaling, and experiential exercises
The mind/body connection, the nervous systems fight or flight response, and how it relates to our hair loss
Relationships, dating, the workplace, and “coming out” to others about our hair loss
The Bikini Industrial Complex and other feminist perspectives on body image
AND…..
For those who are seeking cosmetic solutions, and styling tips, each session will close with some product knowledge and resources for hair loss