A stay-at-home mom became a professional cuddler making $150 an hour

• Michelle Renee is a professional cuddler who started her practice in 2015.
• A former stay-at-home mom, Renee now helps clients heal from body-image issues, trauma, and touch starvation.
• She explained how cuddle "therapy" works and what someone can expect from a session.

In Michelle Renee's office, she has all of the essentials: a computer, a desk decorated with cherished knick knacks, and a daybed covered in throw pillows, including one that reads "Let's Cuddle."

Working as a professional cuddler since late 2015, Renee uses her daybed almost daily, holding clients who say they feel touch-starved, and those who want to heal from a variety of issues like poor body image, an uncomfortable relationship with their mother, or sexual trauma.

Renee, who also works as an intimacy coach and alongside therapists as a surrogate partner for therapy patients, told Insider that working as a professional cuddler often comes with unwanted misconceptions, like that they're willing to have sex with clients or give them unlimited foot massages.

"Just because you pay for our services, it doesn't mean you order what you want," Renee told Insider. "Mutuality is really important. It's about having a connection in that session, and in order to have a real connection, both the client and I have to be our full selves."

She says this is some of the most rewarding work of her life. As a trained cuddling professional, she's helped a man in his late seventies overcome erectile dysfunction, a newly divorced man settle into his single life, and multiple women accept their bodies.

"When they realize that having me rub their belly is not as scary as they thought it would be, and it's actually rather comforting, they can start to let down a lot of the walls that have kept them from connecting with other people," Renee told Insider.

She explained how she works with her clients — she sees a handful of clients each week, and charges $150 an hour — and what someone can expect if they want to hire a professional cuddler like herself.

Who can benefit from hiring a professional cuddler?

Anyone is welcome to reach out for services, but Renee said that many of her clients have issues related to being touch-starved, healing from trauma, or even just craving the warmth of a motherly figure.

When Renee started a part-time cuddling practice, the modality was fairly new. Because of that, she encountered many misconceptions. For example, a few potential clients asked Renee to have sex. She only touches clients over their clothes in non-sexual ways.

Renee quickly realized she needed to vet clients before meeting them in person, and has since created an "almost rude" email that goes out to anyone who inquires about her services, she told Insider.

"It clearly lists what I allow as options in sessions, and what I don't allow, so if they want something I don't provide, they know they're in the wrong place," Renee said.

If a potential client is fine with Renee's protocol, she'll schedule a Zoom session, which costs $40. If they don't attend, they don't get the money back, but if they do and they decide to work together, Renee subtracts that amount from their first cuddling session.

Since implementing this system, Renee said she's avoided clients who misunderstand or misinterpret the services she provides, and gets to focus on working with those who understand her ethos.

What happens during a cuddle therapy session can vary greatly

Renee instructs clients to arrive dressed in comfortable clothing. At a minimum, they must wear shorts and a tank top, but most choose to wear loungewear.

She said that she always starts a session by sitting down with her client, either on the sofa or daybed, and offering them an agreement.

Renee tells clients that if she feels uncomfortable at any time during the session, she'll make an adjustment to feel better. She also tells clients she will only agree to touch requests that she wholeheartedly feels comfortable providing, and asks them if they can set the same boundaries for themselves if they feel uncomfortable.

To initiate cuddling, she asks all clients "How do you want to connect today?" or "Right now, what would feel good to you?"

In her experience, clients who have endured sexual trauma can have trouble asserting their desires and boundaries during cuddling. If they express their honest concerns to Renee, she tells them she'll be cognizant of verbally checking in on them more often than she would a client who comes for regular maintenance cuddles, she said.

Sometimes, clients won't want to cuddle at all, and would prefer to gaze into each other's eyes, talk about what's been bothering them, or play with Renee's hair, she said. That's all fine with her — so long as she doesn't have a post-session engagement where she wants her hair looking its best.

Clients who work with Renee can book sessions anywhere from one to three hours, with Renee typically suggesting 90-minute sessions, she said. Other cuddling professionals may have different offerings, like overnight cuddling, she said. Pricing can vary based on the provider too, said Renee.

At Cuddlist, an organization that educates cuddlers and connects them with clients, some providers offer sessions for $60 per hour, while others charge $200 per hour.

Renee became a cuddle therapist after being a stay-at-home mom

In 2015, a year after her divorce, Renee said she was looking for a new career path after being a stay-at-home mom and before that, working in accounting. Out of personal interest, she attended classes on having better orgasms and healing the mind-body connection. In those seminars, she learned that being a professional cuddler was a career option.

Renee said she received most of her training from Cuddlist. There's no singular path to becoming a professional cuddler, but Renee, who recently became Cuddlist's director of training, said the organization has its own protocols for prioritizing all participants' safety.

Renee said she now brings her personal interests as a "sex geek" into her work, which means teaching cuddling clients how to feel more present, set boundaries, and rediscover pleasure — all through a comforting snuggle.