Cuddles For Sale In Kansas City

By Gina Kaufmann,

Matthew Long-Middleton, Sylvia Maria Gross, Matt Hodapp

Published September 3, 2014 at 5:13 PM CDT

At "cuddle houses," you can pay a stranger to cuddle with you--it's supposed to be a form of touch therapy. Professional cuddling has set up shop in Wisconsin, New York and has now come to Kansas City. How does touch affect our physical and psychological well-being?

Guests:

Anne Graham, former professional cuddler
Jason O’Brien, director, Cuddle: A Documentary
Carolyn Guenther Molloy, infant touch therapist, Stress Free Start LLC

Tags

Central Standard therapy psychology

Gina Kaufmann

People don't make cameos in news stories; the human story is the story, with characters affected by news events, not defined by them. As a columnist and podcaster, I want to acknowledge what it feels like to live through this time in Kansas City, one vantage point at a time. Together, these weekly vignettes form a collage of daily life in Kansas City as it changes in some ways, and stubbornly resists change in others. You can follow me on Twitter @GinaKCUR or email me at gina@kcur.org.

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Matthew Long-Middleton

Matthew Long-Middleton has been a talk-show producer, community producer, Media Training Manager and now the Community Engagement Manager at KCUR. You can reach him at Matthew@kcur.org, or on Twitter @MLMIndustries.

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Sylvia Maria Gross

Sylvia Maria Gross is storytelling editor at KCUR 89.3. Reach her on Twitter @pubradiosly.

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Matt Hodapp

See stories by Matt Hodapp