Stay-at-home mum becomes professional cuddler making whopping £120 an hour

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Michelle has ensured there are no misconceptions in terms of what is and isn
Michelle has ensured there are no misconceptions in terms of what is and isn't offered during a session with her (stock photo)

A former stay-at-home mum has found a new lease of life after training to become a professional cuddler. Now making $150 (£120) an hour, Michelle Renee assists a diverse range of clients with her professional cuddling therapy, covering issues ranging from body image, trauma, and touch starvation, to help countless clients through her relational healing through touch.

Working as a Human Connection Coach since late 2015, Michelle says she now has a daybed in her office, where she helps heal and hold clients who feel touch-starved, or who want to recover from past traumas. The idea for her new business venture was born a year after her divorce. Looking for a new career path after her previous role in accounting and being a stay-at-home mum, she attended classes on having better orgasms and healing the mind-body connection, leading to her discovery of professional cuddling as a career option.

After becoming a Trained Practitioner with Cuddlist (an organisation that educates cuddlers and connects them with clients) Michelle is also now the brand’s director of training, stating that Cuddlist and her own client work have strict protocols for prioritising participants' safety.

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Before meeting in person, Michelle has ensured there are no misconceptions in terms of what is and isn't offered during a session with her. Clients are only ever touched over their clothes in a non-sexual way, with all clients vetted, pre-session, via a strict email, so they are fully aware of what is and isn’t allowed. "It clearly lists what I allow and what I don't, so if they want something I don't provide, they know they're in the wrong place," she said. A Zoom session then takes place prior to meeting in person.

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When it comes to cuddle therapy, sessions can vary greatly, with most lasting between one to three hours, with an average session lasting 90 minutes. Clients arrive in comfortable clothing with strict boundaries created for both parties in terms of touch requests throughout the session. To initiate cuddling, she asks all clients how they want to connect that day. "Mutuality is really important. It's about having a connection in that session, and in order to have a real connection, both the client and I have to be our full selves,” she continues.

Referring to her work as: “physical therapy for your emotional health”, Michelle has helped countless clients, including a man in his late 70s overcome erectile dysfunction, a newly divorced man adapt to single life, and many female clients learn to accept their bodies.

From her experience, she recognises that clients who have endured sexual trauma can have trouble asserting their desires and boundaries during cuddling, with Michelle verbally checking in on them more often than a client who comes in for regular maintenance cuddles.

Alongside her work as a Cuddle Therapist, Michelle also works as an intimacy coach and is the co-founder of @embracespt, a professional resource group for surrogate partners and collaborating clinicians. Michelle says these roles have offered some of the most rewarding work of her life, allowing her to bring her personal interest as a self-confessed ‘sex geek’ into her working world, teaching clients how to feel more present, set strong boundaries, and rediscover pleasure – and all created via the comfort of a cuddle.

Emma Rowbottom

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