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A professional cuddler who makes a living giving clients hugs has said people travel from all over the globe to receive the cuddle therapy she offers which is “far less intimate than a massage” and helps people from “all walks of life”. Natasha Wicks, 44, from Coventry, West Midlands, says that despite criticism, cuddling is scientifically proven to release happy hormones like dopamine and that a lot of her clients are “the big spoon in life” and go to her for emotional support that they do not have at home. As such, many of her clients are caregivers and most of them join Natasha for two-hour hugging sessions, costing £70 an hour. The sessions vary depending on what the client wants, some having “emotional hugs”, others talking more and some wanting to “sit at opposite ends of the sofa with our legs and feet entwined”. Natasha became a cuddle therapist in 2015 and, while she has had comments online from people criticising the practice, she said that her family and friends were unsurprised when she first started giving professional cuddles. She said: “They all said to me that I give the best cuddles so it’s not surprising that I’d start doing it as a job. “It’s very much what I do, I help people and want to make people feel better. It’s a natural thing when someone is going through a tough time to want to give them a hug. “Cuddle therapy might not be as widely accepted in society but it’s far less intimate than other things like massages which are seen as normal.” Prior to becoming a cuddler, Natasha originally trained as a CBT therapist and counsellor. She said: “There’d be situations where I would be talking to someone and they’d really need a hug, but obviously, you’d have professional boundaries in place and it wouldn’t have been appropriate. “It was just a really natural thing. One client had finished her final session and we had agreed that she wasn’t my patient anymore so we hugged goodbye. She said to me that she’d wanted to do that for a long time and I thought ‘me too’.” Looking into cuddle therapy, which she said was increasing in popularity in 2014, Natasha took a training course. By 2015, she was a qualified cuddler and started taking on new patients for cuddle sessions. Natasha provides a minimum session of one hour but said most people go for at least two hours, sometimes longer if they are receiving more than one type of therapy. She said: “I always give people a hug on the doorstep when they arrive and then they’ll come in and relax, and we’ll have an initial chat about what brings them here. After that, I’ll put on some ambient music and we’ll have a cuddle on my cuddle sofa. “It can be daunting coming into a stranger’s house and I can tell the difference in them from arriving to leaving. The first hug they might be angled away from me but when we’re hugging goodbye, I can get my head in between their neck and shoulders and you can almost feel that a weight has been lifted from them.” There is not one type of person that visits Natasha for cuddles, but she says that a lot of her clients are caregivers. She said: “There’s all sorts of people who come for a cuddle, from people who have moved away from home for the first time and just want a mum hug all the way to people in their 80s. “I’m inclusive of all genders and all ages. I get a lot of clients who are the carers of their family and they are so busy looking after other people, and probably giving the hugs and support to other people, that they don’t have that for themselves. “A lot of people that come to see me are generally people are the big spoon in the life – they take care of others and don’t want to show a vulnerable side to people because they don’t want people to worry that they can’t cope. “I get a lot of carers, a lot of NHS staff, a lot of mums, a lot of people that are in a world where they have to be the strong one in the situation and they just want to be able to come here and let their guard down.” Natasha’s priority is to make people feel at ease when they arrive as she said it can be “nerve wracking” turning up at someone’s house for a hug. Setting out clear boundaries prior to meeting, the therapist has said that the patients she has welcomed into her home have all been respectful. She added: “I always say to people that when your body relaxes, your tummy might crumble and mine might too, but that people don’t need to worry about it. Sometimes people fall asleep and they might snore or fart, it’s just natural things that happen. It’s happened twice where someone has got an erection and that’s fine, I have boundaries and we’ll just change position. “I want people to feel reassured that, as soon as they get in, they feel comfortable.” Despite the unconventional therapy, when Natasha first took on cuddle clients, she said her family were completely “unsurprised” and the step from CBT therapy to cuddle therapy was a “natural evolution”. While Natasha focuses her time on a holistic approach for treating people, she noted that there is also neuroscience behind cuddles. According to the 44-year-old, physical touch activates the brain’s orbitofrontal cortex and cuddling releases oxytocin, dopamine and serotonin. Now, Natasha also does EMDR therapy and is a mental health swim host, and has clients travel from all over the globe to receive her hugs. She said: “Working from Coventry is brilliant because I’m only nine minutes on the train from Birmingham Airport and people come to visit me from all over. I get a client from Belgium, someone from Ireland and people from all over the UK who come to see me. “I wanted to find a sofa bed that just looked like a big comfy sofa for cuddle sessions. I’d started off with a big L shaped sofa but after about five years, it was sagging a bit, there’d been a lot of healing done on that sofa and it was time for a new one. “Now I have a sofa bed in my living room that I use as my cuddle sofa. It’s in the living room and it’s used for everyday life, watching TV with my partner, having people round and also for my work.” Breaking down the taboo around cuddle therapy, Natasha hopes more people will embrace the alternative treatment. She added: “As it’s become more popular, more people are becoming qualified as cuddlers and I think that’s great. “I’ve had comments online before of people thinking it’s weird or not understanding but there are other things we accept in society that are much more intimate than cuddles, like massages. “It’s not weird, it’s actually a really lovely thing to be able to make another soul feel better for a while.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live What is ‘beer tanning’ and why are experts warning against it? Christian Cowan: Designing is like dreaming Deborah James’s daughter launches anniversary clothing line for Bowelbabe Fund

New Tottenham head coach Ange Postecoglou has not asked for any assurances over Harry Kane’s future, but will use this week’s meeting with the forward to lay out his vision to make the club successful. Postecoglou faced the media for the first time on Monday and the discussion quickly turned to Kane, who is attracting interest from Bayern Munich amid reports the Bundesliga champions have bid for the England captain. Kane will return to training on Wednesday and ex-Celtic boss Postecoglou revealed how he expects the conversation with the 29-year-old to go. “I haven’t had any assurances and I wouldn’t expect any assurances,” Postecoglou explained. “That’s just my nature. I just kind of go along and try to concentrate on the things I know right now. “What I know right now is that Harry is part of this squad and he’s looking forward to coming back to training and being amongst these players and starting to work together. “I don’t think it’s my role to sit down and treat people in a manner because of their circumstances. I’m really big on treating everyone the same and Harry has already entrenched himself in the history of this football club. “He’s a very important part. He’s one of the premier strikers in the world and I want him involved. My conversation with him will be about how we can make this club successful and I’ve got no doubts that’s what he wants as well. “I doubt it’s going to be defined in the manner that people think it’s going to be. It’s not going to be a conversation where we walk out of the room and have an understanding. I don’t want that kind of conversation. “What I want is to introduce myself to Harry and give him my vision of the football club and get a sense from him on what he thinks the club needs to do to be successful and walk out on that training pitch and try to make it happen.” Tottenham’s stance on Kane has not changed since Manchester City tried to sign the forward in 2021. City’s advances were turned down and Spurs plan to reject any bids for the forward this summer despite his contract now entering its final 12 months. Kane is not the only senior figure at the club with an uncertain future. Captain Hugo Lloris is expected to depart and a bloated squad – after 12 players have returned from loan spells – will need to be trimmed. Postecoglou added: “We’re in that stage, like most clubs, where you kind of know that there will be activity between now and the start of the season and the end of the window. There will be some players who won’t be here and some players that will come in. “Again in my mind, I try to keep that with the understanding that until something is certain, I’m not going to commit myself either way to whether a player is going to be here or not. There’s no point in wasting energy on something that may or may not happen. “So far the lads we’ve had in have been excellent. They’ve been brilliant with the staff in adapting and implementing the things I want and we’ll keep moving along. “We’ll get the rest of the squad back in the next couple of days so it will be great to see everyone in the building.” Postecoglou will attempt to bring in a contrasting style of football to Spurs’ last three managers with Jose Mourinho, Nuno Espirito Santo and Antonio Conte all favouring a pragmatic approach with counter-attacking football. The Australian laid out his plans on Monday to bring back the aggressive, dominant football that is intrinsically linked to Tottenham’s history. “Anyone that has charted the course of my career will know if you watch my teams play, they all have the same basic elements in there,” the 57-year-old said. “The elements of it will be – we want to be an aggressive team, a dominant team, a team who takes the game to every opposition home and away. My goal is to try and make some special moments here and create something special for this great football club Ange Postecoglou “I think for me the history of this football club kind of suggests that is the best fit for it. “I am the kind of guy who loves a challenge. I love a build, I love a rebuild. That is where I feel I am at my best. “Now my goal is to try and make some special moments here and create something special for this great football club as well.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Daniil Medvedev sails past injured Jiri Lehecka into Wimbledon quarter-finals New contract for British GP ‘just a matter of time’, says Motorsport UK boss Tearful Beatriz Haddad Maia retires from fourth-round clash with Elena Rybakina

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