“Many think it sounds strange”

The phenomenon of hug therapy is supposed to give strengthened self-esteem and help people who feel alone.
Klara Ward is a professional cuddler and works with just this.
– I use cuddles, hugs, spooning and hair pills as tools to help people calm their nervous systems, says Klara Ward in Efter fem.

Hug therapy involves non-sexual touch such as hugs, spooning and hair plucking. Those who attend hug therapy get to practice what it’s like to be close to another person. But it can also be to talk about why physical proximity is difficult for them.

– There may be people who need to practice consenting, finding their limits and being able to express them. But also people who love closeness, but that the social context means that they do not have access to it.

There is a stigma

Klara Ward tells us that there is a stigma around hug therapy and that she gets some questions about it.

– Many people think it sounds strange. There are many questions about whether it is a sexual service. What kind of weird people need this? Why are they so lonely?

The researcher critical

Researcher Rebecca Böhme believes that the phenomenon of hug therapy can be problematic, as touch from another person creates a connection. If you get attached to a person who is not in your everyday life, it creates a false attachment.

– If you get into a relationship with someone who isn’t there. Then you can feel more alone if you don’t have that person in your everyday life, says the researcher.

The connection is something that Klara Ward herself has thought about.

– It is a great respect for clients that this can happen. You keep in touch with them even if you don’t see each other to see how things are going, should this happen. I too have ethical guidelines to adhere to in the professional association I am a part of.