-In most jobs, people are really just using their brains,
and in cuddle therapy, I'm using my body.
-Laughing is good.
-I know. It is. Yeah.
-This is a service for human beings.
We are using our bodies to hold other people's bodies.
Good night. -Good night.
-I'm Saskia Larsen, and I'm a professional cuddler.
♪♪
I prepare my space for each client so that we have,
like, enough room to cuddle,
and then I take a big sheet, and I cover the entire couch,
and that's it, and then I hop on.
Ta-da! [ Laughs ]
A professional cuddler is someone who helps people
who are touch deprived by simply holding them,
so if I help somebody feel better and more connected,
they might go home to their family and be more connected.
My clients range in age and backgrounds.
I have clients with a Hasidic background
who don't get much touch in their community.
Unfortunately, most of my female clients
are sexual abuse victims,
and I've had situations where touch doesn't happen
at all during a cuddle session.
They are just allowed to say they don't want touch.
Then I have elderly clients who live alone,
maybe don't have family around
that aren't getting enough touch.
Hey, come on in. -Hi. How are you?
-Good. How are you doing? Want a hug?
-Yeah. -Okay.
-Always. -Mm.
-Thank you. -All right.
-So I'm going to change? -Yeah, go ahead and change,
and I'll see you in a minute.
A few things that I do to maintain the nonsexual
or platonic nature of the session
is I always have the sessions in my home.
I don't cuddle on a bed.
For me, the bed carries too much sexual energy,
so I do cuddle sessions on my couch.
I don't allow people to cuddle with me in their street clothes
'cause I just think that's gross,
and people have to wear an appropriate cuddle outfit.
How's your day so far?
-Oh, it's really good now that I'm here.
-Yay. -I really needed to come.
-Yeah, good. -Mm-hmm.
-So when I interview new clients on the phone,
I talk to them about arousal immediately,
and that's just because sexuality and touch
are so tangled, so I just tell them, you know,
if arousal happens for them, don't shame themselves.
Thank your body for being healthy, and don't act on it,
and my definition of acting on it
would be doing anything that increases arousal
or even doing anything that maintains arousal.
-Mm. -I put so many, like,
boundaries in there, it's, like, a safe place to function within,
and at no point does anybody think
that this is going to become sexual.
-Oh. It already is working.
Can we lay down now? -Sure.
Do you want me to put my arm under your neck?
-I like it like this. -Like that?
Okay. Good. I'm going to put my --
We'll do pretzel legs, okay? -Mm-hmm.
-Yay. It's good to see you.
-Thank you. -[ Giggles ] This is fun.
Cuddle therapy, to me, is a dream job.
So we go... This is all the states
where we have Cuddlists.
When I first found out that I could do cuddling as a job
and make money, I was like, "Yes! Are you kidding me?
$80 an hour to cuddle?"
Basically there's a profile for each of the cuddlists
on cuddlist.com,
and I think what makes a good profile
is just friendly, neutral pictures of the cuddlist.
For me, it was like walking into a candy store
because I'm just an extremely affectionate person.
-Mm.
Thank you. -You're welcome.
I think the reason that I get some inner soul satisfaction
from doing cuddle therapy
is just because it's really helping people,
and it's so simple.
I kind of wish prostitution was legal and safe
so that it could be more clear and people looking for that
could also not feel shame and just go and have that,
but people who are really actually looking for platonic,
nurturing touch could find it more easily.
-Now we're gonna eye-gaze and just look at each other.
-This one is my favorite. -[ Giggles ]
-It gives me so much love. -Yay.
-The right eye is the right eye.
-So I have two main sources of income right now.
One is massage therapy,
and one is cuddle therapy, and I --
It's about fifty-fifty at this point.
Massage therapy can be physically exhausting,
and I have to limit the amount I can do.
Cuddle therapy, there's almost no limit.
I can do up to 7 hours a day and feel fine.
Yay. That's nice.
-[ Laughs ]
-Ushy gushy. -Ushy gushy?
-I have a boyfriend, and he's awesome
because he understands what I do and why I do it
so we don't have to deal with jealousy.
When I'm doing cuddle therapy, even though it's --
there's a closeness there and there's an intimacy there,
and I have love for my clients, it's not the same energy
at all as me being held by my boyfriend.
When I first became a cuddle therapist,
I was kind of, like, shy about talking about it,
so I would actually introduce it by saying,
"You're gonna think this is weird."
Now I don't do that at all. Now I just say, "Oh, I --
You know, I'm a cuddle therapist,"
and I continue the sentence by saying,
"I provide touch for touch-deprived people,"
and people are like, "Oh, cool."
It's amazing, like, the difference in reaction,
how I feel about it and how people perceive it.
There's a paranoia about touch in our society,
and I think it would so much better
if people could get touch without necessarily
being villainized for coming on to somebody.
I think touch is important because we're human beings
and it's in our DNA to need connection
with other human beings,
and without connection to other human beings,
we just don't thrive.
♪♪