Caresses at 70 euros and a hug machine: pampering therapies are the big post-pandemic business

For 33-year-old German Elisa Meyer,

started out as an eccentricity she read about on

, in one of the usual media investigations about the craziest jobs in the world.

“When I checked in 2015, no one else in Europe was a pampering therapist, only in the United States.

I have always loved pampering and was amazed at the idea of ​​making a living from them,” Meyer tells ICON.

Thus, she made the determination to travel to the United States and train to become the pioneer of the continent.

For 70 euros an hour, Meyer hugs and caresses people in need of affection, who can hire her services directly from her website.

In it, she emphasizes a request: "Come preferably freshly showered."

There is no type of sexual exchange in the process.

“We have two pages of rules and everyone has to sign them beforehand.

If someone crosses the taboo zone and tries something sexual, they are given a warning and the next time the session is over.

It has never happened in six years.

If they expected something else, they don't book again and that's it”, explains the therapist.

The session begins with a 10-minute talk, the equivalent of an anamnesis at a psychologist: a conversation to get to know the other person and their problems, only in a more informal way.

Then comes the time for cuddles, caresses and hugs in different positions, which can be enjoyed in silence or by telling the therapist things, who listen carefully.

"For me, pampering therapy is like going to the psychologist, only on a physical level,"

The scientific argument on which this service is based is that contact and physical exchange release the hormone oxytocin, which inhibits cortisol, linked to stress.

Therapy, however, does not aim to replace socially gained connections, but rather to alleviate their absence and encourage patients to seek them out.

“That is the main goal, to encourage more conversations, be brave and develop your circle of friends.

I only bring it up sometimes, though, so they don't feel pressured,” says Meyer.

In a similar sense, Trevor James, who works in Los Angeles (United States), and who presents himself on his official website as "your pampering monster" is pronounced.

“There is no substitute for organic social and emotional connection, but cuddle therapy is a very close alternative,” James tells ICON.

Born in Ghana, the therapist was struck by how tactless people in the West were, "especially men."

“On the one hand, it's sad that in today's individualistic society people like me have to be paid to touch us, but on the other hand, it's a blessing that we have professionals of touch and pampering to help those who miss the touch in their lives.

Hugs are common in moments prior to major sports competitions.

In the image, Conor Dwyer, Townley Hass, Ryan Lochte and Michael Phelps at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, in 2016. Tim Clayton - Corbis

James, whose e-mail goodbye formula is “Warm hugs”, charges around 90 euros an hour and says he can serve around five clients a day, although sometimes one may want a session of more than two hours “or even throughout the night”.

Hugging and pampering so much "can be exhausting," he admits, "but a workout at the gym helps, along with the occasional massage or soak in the tub."

Like Elisa Meyer, Trevor James also discovered the existence of this therapy through an article and decided to abandon his previous job, related to the production of events, to be carried away by "the fascination of learning the science of touch and the art of cuddles”.

He offers 80 different positions to form what he calls a "sequence",

hug oneself

In Spain, in the absence of the implementation of this type of therapy, the company GDPI (Management and Development of Intellectual Property) is setting up a hug machine.

María Martí, inventor and client of the company, was in charge of developing it at the proposal of Enrique Villacén, GDPI partner, advisor and consultant, as well as president of the Spanish Inventors Association.

Equipped with two padded blades that, like pincers, close over the person, the machine is based on the research of the American zoologist and ethologist Temple Grandin, who developed a model by observing foals shoeing cattle, perceiving a calming effect on the animals at the time the mechanism administered pressure.

“She did it with people lying down,

we have given it a spin and our machine applies them vertically, with the individual sitting or standing”, Villacén clarifies to ICON.

“It seemed more natural to us.

When you lie down you relax, there is a conditioning factor.

We wanted to remove that conditioning factor so that it could resemble a real stressful situation, with that tension and that state of mind”.

When María Martí managed in Barcelona an association of people with autism spectrum disorders —generally considered reluctant to physical contact—, the prototype was tested with subjects with said condition.

"Some quite positive conclusions were drawn," says Villacén, who, however, insists that his intention is not to frame the machine "in a clinical aspect", but to make it "open to everyone, as a voluntary therapy, which lend a benefit to those seeking to calm down or reduce anxiety.”

It is not yet marketed, although its launch is expected in 2023. “We are working on what we call the Hug Machine 3.0.

It goes with a more developed technology, with an accompaniment, which sets or predisposes the person more and makes them more receptive through audio and images,

Two women embrace in the year 2020 in New York, during the hardest months of the pandemic.

The scene of hugs through plastics stages the need for human contact. Al Bello (Getty Images)

In the same way that Villacén emphasizes that anyone can receive help from the hug machine, pampering therapists Elisa Meyer and Trevor James agree that there is no specific profile of the patient who requests their services.

“They all share the loneliness factor.

They may have friends, work, family, but no one to really talk to or just hug them.

They may be 18 years old and depressed, 80 years old and very lonely because their spouse has died, or 45 years old and recently divorced.

Others have never had a partner and feel very insecure, or have had bad experiences and traumas that prevent them from connecting with others”, details Meyer.

Therefore, frequently finding themselves in a situation of vulnerability (James says he has patients who even cry during sessions), it is not difficult for those who pay for therapy to develop a dependency.

"It happens sometimes because we are all human," acknowledges the German professional.

“If clients develop feelings towards me and want a real relationship, I stop therapy and ask them to turn to other workers in our network.

I guess psychologists also have the same problem.

“Our work is very intimate and it's easy for lines to blur.

That's why it's important to set clear boundaries from the start, as well as not socializing with clients outside of scheduled sessions,” agrees Trevor James.

After the confinement due to the coronavirus and the social isolation measures decreed, Elisa Meyer noticed a growth in demand, while James was asked for sessions by video call, with a pillow instead.

Although both have official certifications, Meyer believes that "no more training is needed than to feel empathy and love."

talent show

in 2015. Hess, precisely, announced in August of this year that she was leaving render her service, considering, among other reasons, that she had fostered for herself “an unhealthy balance between giving and receiving”.

Because even pampering therapists need a little TLC from time to time.

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