Elisa Meyer, cuddle therapist, member of CPI

Hello dear English readers and followers!

Here is an introduction of me, Elisa Meyer, founder of The Cuddle Chest or Die Kuschel Kiste. Recently I published the translation of my first book „Berührungshunger“, which is about cuddle therapy. The English name is „Touch Hunger“. (You can buy it for example on amazon, here ist the UK version.)

Claire of cuddle professionals international (CPI), where I have been a member since my beginnings, asked me a bunch of questions. I take the opportunity to feature the interview in my blog for all of you.

• • Professional name
    Die Kuschel Kiste (The Cuddle Chest)
  • Title or occupation
    Cuddle therapist

• How long you’ve been a member
  Since 2016

• A fun fact or a quote
  Quote from a customer: „This is better than sex!“

• • How has your career benefited from being a member?
    I started in 2016 with nothing and my first training to become a cuddle therapist was with CPI. I learned so much from it! I had a first basic knowledge that I could share with my customers and the many questions from everybody around me when I started saying that I was a „professional cuddler“. I also use some of this knowledge in my own trainings that I have given in Germany since 2017 and it helped me strengthen my cuddle network here in the German speaking area. (I have trained about 200 people since then.)

• Any tips or advice for new members?
  Just stick to the rules and knowledge that you learn here. You can still adapt and improvise later, when you gained your own experiences. It is very important to have a strict sequence with your clients. Practice with friends first. And don’t forget about self-care.

• What do you like most about being a member?
  I like the fact that I belong to a strong network myself. I don’t feel so isolated with this very novel and uncommon job.

• • Who/what inspires you?
    People like Claire from CPI, Travis Sigley who invented cuddle therapy and Samantha Hess, wo all worked so hard for their idea inspire me. There was nothing before them that would resemble cuddle therapy and nobody took it seriously in the beginning. Still, they fought in their country to be accepted and taken seriously. It was also hard being the first in Austria and Germany, so I can very much relate to their situation. They are pioneers of the cuddle movement!!

• What has been your biggest professional achievement?
  I was so proud when in 2019 I reached the number of 50 professional cuddlers in my network. We are from Germany, Austria, Luxembourg and Switzerland. I trained all of them in a 1:1 workshop. My second biggest achievement was my own cuddle studio in 2021 with three rooms, for bigger events and 1:1 cuddling. These events (like cuddle parties, touch workshops, playfights) are personally quite an achievement for me, because I am afraid to speak in front of people. So it’s always a mini-challenge for me. Funny story: Nobody notices, they are all very happy with my guidance and say I seemed funny and relaxed…
  Finally I started and finished two books about cuddle therapy. That’s actually quite an achievement when I think about it. Also that I translated the first one in English.

• What career advice do you live by? Who gave it to you?
  I grow step by step, one step at a time. I try not to rush anything, just wait for the right moment and then be active. I gave it to myself.

• Future goals and aspirations for your career?
  This year I want to finish and promote my cuddle dating website „Cuddle Date“. It’s still a beta version. It’s a website for meeting people with the goal to find a cuddle buddy. So it’s not about the sexual or romantic aspect, only for cuddling. At this moment I work on a photo-book with cuddle positions. The bigger goal is to get approved by the German health care so that our clients don’t have to pay for their cuddle sessions all by themselves.

• If you could collaborate with anyone, who would it be? Why?
  Elon Musk, because I’m sure he would be up for a crazy idea, like cuddling in space. And he has a big audience. Ok, to be realistic: I had an offer by Nivea, but without a concrete outcome. It would be nice to have a big player like them as a collaborator, to just get the idea of the benefits of cuddling out there. And to have the fundings to do important scientific research. Like testing cuddle therapy for different kinds of diseases, addictions, mental health problems. And then grow the number of cuddle studios all over Europe. Maybe integrate cuddle areas in hospitals, at schools, train stations, airports, or just in the middle of every city?!

• What do you love the most about your job?
  It’s a very new, uncommon job, and although it’s stressful to be a pioneer, I also like the position. I like breaking taboos and educate people about the effects of oxytocin. Moreover I love cuddling. So my everyday job consists of my favourite hobby. And people love it, they are so happy afterwards. What do you want more?

• What experiences and past roles have led you to where you are today?
  I always had a good relationship with my mother in the sense that she loved to cuddle and caress me. We still do that sometimes while watching TV. So I know how nice this feels since always. I studied philosophy and German literature, and I analyzed the role of the body for the feeling of identity. I discovered that the body is an important compound for our basic identity like memory, orientation, decision making, communication, feelings of attraction or repulsion. If the body is not happy, you can lose your identity and become something else that is far from your true self. I took this realization into my therapeutic work. I started with body therapy, then continued with cuddle therapy. I think that cuddle therapy helps you to find yourself if you lost yourself.

• What’s a project you’re working on right now? Why is it meaningful to you?
  I work on a book with cuddle positions. Most of the time I have projects because people around me like clients or friends suggest or request something. So I heard the need and desire from some people around me to look at nice, inspiring pictures of people cuddling. I think first, because they are curious: How do other people cuddle? What are the possibilities? And second, I think the body pours oxytocin as soon as it sees people cuddling. It has a soothing effect. Just like the moment you remember your cuddle session, you go into the same feeling of cuddle-bliss. I heard this effect from some of my clients.
  My other project for this year is cuddle date. The website is kuscheldate.net . It is already online and it’s for people who are self-secure enough to go out and meet people. Many people told me they are put off by the general dating scene because either people have unrealistic standards and expectations for a lifetime partner or they just want to have sex. Many women especially tell me this sad story. And their basic need is to just be held. The final step of cuddle therapy is the moment when our clients find a private cuddle partner. So this cuddle dating website is the materialization of this next step. Seriously, I don’t want to send my clients to tinder to find someone. I think there needs to be a safer space with more rules, so that expectations are more realistic and the mood is more cuddly.

• How do you define success?
  Success is when people, who first are scared, angry or disgusted by the idea of cuddling are slowly showing interest, ask many questions and maybe even make an appointment. This means the first barrier has broken down. Success is also when people coming to a cuddle session who are first scared, stressed or disgusted by the idea of being touched can calm down, unstress and even enjoy touch. I think that the overcoming of all these barriers, be it in the mind or the body, is a huge success. This can happen in a single individual or in a society.

• What is the biggest career challenge you’ve had to overcome?
  I guess it was Corona. But I and the Cuddle Chest have survived!

• What are you reading or listening to?
  I’m reading Coelho at the moment. To motivate myself I listen to house music.

• Do you have any hobbies?
  Besides cuddling it is reading and going to the movies. And I love to learn new techniques and methods, like hypnosis.

• Favourite place you’ve travelled to?
  I love Asia, so my favourite spots there are Tokyo, Taipei and Seoul, just to name a few. Oh and I loved Mexico City.
  But Italy is quite nice as well.

• Fun fact that people probably don’t know about you
  I may seem very soft and cuddly, but I also love playfighting and being kneaded. I love hard touching! It relaxes me the most.

• Where are you from? Where did you go to school?
  I am from Luxembourg. I emigrated to Germany when I was 19.

• A recent movie you watched that you loved
  Everything Everywhere All at once.

• Describe what a perfect day outside of work would look like for you
  I don’t have a perfect day without a cuddle session. But if I had to choose, I would say sauna day with lots of relaxing, reading, eating and cuddling.

• What excites you the most right now?
  Selling figures of my books, new cuddle requests.
  The idea of going to a talk show as a cuddler.

• What’s your favourite memory?
  Every time I cuddle with an animal: cats, dogs, bunnies. Maybe I should open a cuddle sanctuary for animals.

• What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever done?
  Becoming a cuddle therapist.

 

www.cuddlers.net/en/