Cuddles and psychotherapy combined

musso75

I saw in the news that Australia has approved MDMA and psilocybin for treatment of PTSD and depression respectively used in combination with psychotherapy. I never did drugs but after looking at the effects of MDMA I find a lot of similar effects I experience when cuddling.

• Euphoria – a sense of general well-being and happiness
• Increased self-confidence, sociability, and perception of facilitated communication
• Entactogenic effects—increased empathy or feelings of closeness with others and oneself
• Dilated pupils (I have to cuddle in front of a mirror next time to know if it does it ha ha)
• Relaxation and reduced anxiety
• Increased emotionality (I haven't experienced this one but I read sometimes that people cry when cuddling)
• A sense of inner peace
• Altered sense of time (Time flies while cuddling)

It's pretty cool that we get all those benefits without taking any drugs. It makes me wonder if having a therapy session right after cuddling would help the healing process. Any thoughts or experience to share about this?

Vianca

The timing of the therapy session doesn't matter as much. Side note those that genuinely need drugs shouldnt avoid them or they end up on the subway lmao anyway thats up to a psychiatrist and the individual. Overall I'd suggest a therapy session before a cuddle session bc if the therapist is good you'd probably need a hug afterwards. Lol

GrayKunz

I identify as a psychonaut. My most memorable cuddles have been while taking mushrooms with a loved one. I wouldn't recommend it with a complete stranger as it can easily go sideways. I would recommend doing it with someone very experienced and trusted if you've never done them before.

I am an advocate for the mental health benefits that entheogens can bring. I've used them to successfully battle my own addiction and depression. You have to want to change though. Some people get caught up in the euphoria and forget to bring back the message. They can do amazing things if you allow them to.

If I can recommend some books on the subject -

"How to Change your Mind" - Michael Pollen
"Food of the Gods: The Search for the Original Tree of Knowledge A Radical History of Plants, Drugs, and Human Evolution" - Terence McKenna
"The Doors of Perception" - Aldous Huxley

TheFunCartel

If you take too much psilocybin at once you can wind up puking. But your vomit will be rainbow colored with Lucky Charm bits.

SouthernDoll

@musso75

Wow 🤩 what a glorious thread 🪡 thanks for sharing !!!
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I am very happy they are pairing it with psychotherapy so users can have support and guidance while experiencing the effects of the substance they are taking.

• Happy Cuddles Everyone -

oberon

MDMA is also called therapy in a bottle. Very powerful tool for opening yourself up to connection and understanding truths. I recommend both to anyone who feels stable enough to explore it. Just be sure you are going into it with positive expectations and a good environment. And hopefully an experienced and trusted friend.

CuddleDuncan

Speaking as somebody who does have both cuddling and psychtherapy in their life, I would not advise making the sessions adjacent. Especially if the style of he cuddling is at the therapeutic end of the scale.

Both can bring great benefits, and I'm all in favour of having both in the same week. But they should be widely separated. In both cases the ideal thing is for the time after the session to be kept as free as possible, for feelings to be felt and reflection to happen.

I have tried cuddling and massage as a pair, and although I didn't really find it satisfactory I can see that the 'double whammy' of relaxation could work for some people.

cuddlefaery

I think they can be great used as part of a holistic mental health care team... But I agree with Duncan that back to back may not be the best idea. There is such thing as too much of a good thing, and emotional burnout from trying to tackle too much at a time can backfire and cause therapy to reverse progress, or worse worsen symptoms of things like PTSD and anxiety.

Definitely talk about it with an experienced mental health professional who knows your history. For me, using them in conjunction works but I take rest days - I don't ever schedule cuddles for immediately after or even the day after therapy if I anticipate it being a particularly rough session (which it has been lately).

seahanagray

If you are experienced in this particular area, would it be something to have available for other willing to do the same level of individual experiencing?

Any opinions in the topic would greatly be appreciated for an intern currently transitioning into professional psychotherapy.

Unscented_Lemon

I've had cuddle appointments on the same day as therapy appointments. It's nice. It gives me something outside of myself to help me ground. And for a couple of hours, I can be who I need to be rather than trying to maintain the role of responsible adult. Sometimes someone can provide a lot of support just by holding on to you so you can relax without slipping away.

musso75

Thanks for all the feedback, suggestions and different point of views. It didn't come to my mind that having a cuddle and therapy near to each other could be overwhelming. I can see how 3h would be too long.

Maybe if the client get a shorter 1-2h cuddle before the therapy, the good sensations of being loved, secure, calm, grounded would help discuss calmly with the therapist right after. We can look at it as a warm up or stretching session so the client is less likely to get injured during the psychotherapy session ;P

Because psychotherapists cannot hug their clients but a pro cuddler should not give therapeutic advice to their clients, the combination of the two makes sense to me. I guess it's something I could discuss with a therapist to see if they would be interested to experiment. However, I'm not sure their profession would allow them to propose that option to their client.

@Unscented_Lemon, did you have your cuddles before the therapy or the other way around.

@CuddleDuncan when you say "time after the session to be kept as free as possible", I assume you mean after the therapy session? I agree, having the cuddles right after the therapy might even prevent you from thinking about what you discussed with your therapist.

Unscented_Lemon

@Unscented_Lemon After. Therapy in the afternoon, cuddles in the evening. Cuddling before would not have helped me in recovering from after therapy.

CuddleDuncan

@musso75 exactly, yes.

musso75

@Unscented_Lemon . I wasn't even thinking about using the cuddles to get comfort after the therapy. I see what you mean. It's 2 completely different dynamics or usage of cuddles in combination with therapy.

The order "cuddles then therapy" that I propose is more to be in a good mental state. I had a few hypnotherapy sessions in the past to work on different subjects and it helped me a lot. One session was all I needed. It's as if the message from the therapist gets understood much more easily because the dialog is direct with the subconscious and helps rebuild connections in the brain. (no science here, that's only my naive interpretation of it)

To get back to the drugs, from the different documentaries I saw, psilocybin seems like hypnotherapy on steroid but until it gets approved and controlled I wouldn't try it. My idea of cuddling combined with therapy is some sort of poor man's hypnotherapy or drug/therapy combo.

warm_embrace

I wonder if I could get my therapist and my favorite pro cuddler to work with me at the same time, while I do mushrooms ….🤔

Probably not.

Unscented_Lemon

@warm_embrace I believe your therapist would at the very least need to be licensed to work with psychotropic drugs. The normal techniques could have a drastically different effect on you.

musso75

@warm_embrace Ha ha. I like the image of that. What a combo!!!! I think as long as you don't have coffee at the same time because that would be too much to handle.

me2

@musso75 I’ve experienced going to someone who combined psycho, somatic, and massage therapy for trauma. It might not be a good fit for everybody, but for me personally it was night and day difference to have touch incorporated into therapy. She did mentioned at the beginning that a lot of her clients would also see a separate psychotherapist and that some people would be more averse to her therapy because of the feelings it brought up. It wasn’t the same as cuddling but it was still using contact and connection to help rewire the brain.

Huberman lab podcast has a lot of great information on psychedelics for therapy. It’s all from a very research based angle too which I appreciate.

From my experience it seems that trauma therapy is very individualized so it’s important to try different angles and keep in mind that things that work for some won’t necessarily be a good fit for others.
For me, touch helps me allow feeling to come up and to processes in a healing way. I know of multiple people that have told me they enjoy affection but that for them, touch can stifle the processing.

I think it’s hard to find people who do therapy like the one I found, but if you look up therapeutic touch or touch therapy for trauma(? Forgetting the exact wording for some of the search terms that seems to work better) you might find somebody. Again different than cuddling but another potential angle to try.

musso75

I'm not looking for a therapy right now. I'm more interested and curious in the potential benefits of cuddles combined with therapy on others. Your experience is interesting and different than what I had in mind. Now we have 3 different potential usage of cuddles in combination with therapy.

1. Prior to a therapy session to make the client receptive and relax.
2. During a therapy session where the "cuddles" or touches/massage are part of the healing process. It reminds me acupuncture in a way.
3. After a therapy session to help recovering.

I agree with you that not everything works for everybody. In fact, I don't think what I'm suggesting would work with most people, probably mostly those who are touch deprived.

Unscented_Lemon

I wish I could have "during therapy", especially when bringing up stuff that's overwhelming. But professional therapists are not allowed to touch their clients.

TheFunCartel

Whether you struggle with mental health or not, this is a show that makes you think about the nature of happiness and what happiness is:

taco_libre

psychocybernetics > psilocybin