Inclusive Training Starts in Your First Language
By Olivia L. Baylor, LCPC, NCC, BC-TMH
Picture a Saturday at a busy nail salon. A client you have seen every two weeks for a year sits down, and today she keeps her sleeves pulled over her wrists. She flinches when her phone buzzes. You notice. You have a feeling. And in that moment, the words you reach for will come from wherever you learned what to do.
If you learned it in a language you only half follow, from slides you read twice and still were not sure about, those words may not come at all.
That is the heart of this post. Safety training only works if it is still with you on the day you need it. And for many of the people who keep Maryland's salons and barbershops running, that means it has to reach them in their first language.
Why language access matters in safety training
When you are calm, you can translate in your head. When you are worried about someone in your chair, you can't. Under stress, people reach for what they know most deeply, and for many of us that is the language we grew up speaking. A safety step you understood fully, in your own words, is the one you are most likely to recall when it counts.
This is not a new idea. In 2010, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued a policy statement saying that required workplace training must be presented in a way employees can understand, and that an employer must instruct employees "using both a language and vocabulary that the employees can understand" (OSHA, 2010). Safety agencies have recognized for a long time that training someone in a language they don't fully understand is not really training them.
Now think about who you are reaching. Many Marylanders speak a language other than English at home. In many neighborhoods, the salon is also a community space. A Vietnamese-speaking nail technician serves Vietnamese-speaking clients. A Spanish-speaking stylist is the person her clients trust with more than their hair. A Korean-speaking esthetician hears things in her treatment room that a client may never say anywhere else.
That shared language is a protective factor. It is often the reason a client feels safe enough to say something true. When the professional in that chair has been trained in that same language, she is ready to respond with care instead of guessing.
The people who notice first
Maryland's HB 1547 recognized something I have believed for years: beauty professionals often see the early signs of domestic violence before anyone else does. You see clients regularly. You touch their hair, their hands, their skin. You notice the bruise under the bangs, the new hesitance, the partner who calls three times during one appointment.
You are not being asked to become a counselor. You are being asked to recognize what you are seeing, respond in a way that keeps everyone safe, respect your professional boundaries, and know where to point someone for help. Those are skills you can learn, and you deserve to learn them in the language you think in.
What inclusive looks like in practice
"Inclusive" is a word that gets used a lot and defined very little. When we built the Maryland HB 1547 Domestic Violence Awareness Training, here is what it meant in practice.
Today the training runs in 7 languages: English, Spanish, French, Korean, Vietnamese, Chinese (Simplified), and Khmer.
First-language video, not subtitles over English. Each language version is its own full course. You hear the lessons in your language, so you can watch the way you would listen to a trusted colleague, without splitting your attention between the screen and a line of translated text.
A workbook in your language. Every version comes with a participant workbook in that same language. You can write in it, return to it, and keep it at your station. Having the steps on paper, in words you read easily, is what helps them stay with you after the video ends.
Plain language. Clinical terms are explained in everyday words. Key steps are said clearly and repeated. Plain language is not "dumbing down." It is respect for your time and your intelligence.
Cultural examples. Abuse does not look the same in every family or every community, and help-seeking does not either. The training includes a module on cultural considerations and real-world examples, because you serve real people, not textbook cases. Your clients may be immigrants, LGBTQIA+, in interfaith or interracial relationships, or part of large extended families. What safety looks like for each of them can differ, and the training treats that difference with care.
Trauma-informed pacing. This material can be heavy, especially if any of it feels close to home. The training is self-paced, so you can pause, step away, and come back. Lessons build in order, one step at a time. Nothing about it is designed to rush you.
Why this matters for salon owners
If you own a salon or barbershop, you already know your team. You know who speaks which language with which clients. A training your whole team can complete in their own first language means everyone builds the same understanding of the same steps, instead of some people getting the full message and others getting pieces of it.
It also tells your team something. It says: your language is not an afterthought here.
A note on approval
My Mental Health University® is listed by the Maryland Department of Labor as an approved provider of the one-hour domestic violence awareness training on its cosmetologists approved provider list. The training is built for Maryland barbers, cosmetologists, hair stylists, nail technicians, estheticians, and other beauty professionals. You can confirm current licensing requirements directly on the Maryland Board of Cosmetologists HB 1547 page.
Take the next step
You already notice more than most people realize. This training helps you know what to do with what you notice, in the language you trust most.
Start the Maryland HB 1547 Domestic Violence Awareness Training. It is self-paced, available in 7 languages, and comes with a participant workbook in each one. If you are enrolling a whole team or have a media question, reach us at media@mymhuniversity.com.
Where to go next
Language access is one piece of a larger commitment at My Mental Health University®: training that fits the people who will use it. You can browse everything we offer in our courses. Clinicians who want to bring that same culturally responsive lens to work with engaged couples can explore the CPMS™ certification for the Certified Pre-Marital Specialist™ credential. Couples who want to have the hard conversations before the wedding can start with the book, The Before I Do Method™. And if you are looking for a counselor who works with engaged couples of every background, the Premarital Counseling Directory is a good place to begin.
If you or someone you know is in danger, call 911. For confidential support 24/7, contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or text START to 88788.
