Can a genuine, warm connection with another person facilitate healing and enhance your well-being? YES!
Relational Healing Through Trusted Touch and Platonic Connection - Allowing for a Corrective Emotional Experience
“How do you explain this work?”
“What do you do?”
Human Connnection Lab
Michelle Renee - Human Connection Coach
Offering Relational-Based Touch for Relational-Based Healing
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I collaborate with individuals of all genders, with a majority being single.
My focus is on clients seeking support related to body image, recovery from childhood sexual assault, and healing from mother wounds.
Clients are often looking for an emotionally corrective experience, making this an ideal environment for experiential learners.
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Navigating anxiety and depression
Developing social skills
Establishing boundaries, articulating needs, and desires
Gaining empowerment and healing from past trauma
Recovering from experiences of abuse and neglect, including sexual, physical, and emotional trauma
Enhancing self-esteem and addressing body image concerns
Breaking free from codependency and attachment issues in relationships
Reevaluating the concepts of consent and obligation, recognizing that early lessons about authority figures controlling our bodies can be challenging to un
Navigating anxiety and depression
Developing social skills
Establishing boundaries, articulating needs, and desires
Gaining empowerment and healing from past trauma
Recovering from experiences of abuse and neglect, including sexual, physical, and emotional trauma
Enhancing self-esteem and addressing body image concerns
Breaking free from codependency and attachment issues in relationships
Reevaluating the concepts of consent and obligation, recognizing that early lessons about authority figures controlling our bodies can be challenging to unlearn.
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A session begins with exploring your desired form of connection, a significant yet often challenging question for many clients. We will work together to uncover your needs from the outset. Throughout each session, I apply various exercises and coaching techniques organically, responding to what arises in the moment. My role is to help you slow down, remain present, and tune in to your body's truth during our time together. This process resembles a live experiment where we aim for authenticity, confronting fears in a safe environment that allows for risk-taking. As your comfort grows, we will gradually introduce new challenges at a pace that feels right for you. Consider our sessions as a form of therapy within the context of social interaction.
These sessions are referred to as “Foundations of Human Connection” and can last from 60 minutes to 3 hours, tailored to each client's needs and availability. We will explore this further during our intake call to make a collective decision. Typically, I suggest beginning with a 90-minute or 2-hour session.
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Whether you are seeking cuddle therapy or human connection coaching, we always begin by asking, “How would you like to connect?” We invite you to schedule an exploratory call to discuss your needs.
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The next step is to contact me.
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It's hard to predict how many sessions you will need, but most people work with me for several months.
When a client is local to San Diego, sessions are usually scheduled weekly or every two weeks. My San Diego location is in Rancho Bernardo, near the 15 freeway. If you want me to come to you, there's a $50 travel fee for areas within western San Diego County, around a 30-minute drive from Rancho Bernardo.
Clients in the Los Angeles or Orange County areas can see me once a month when I’m in their area.
Clients in the Mid-Atlantic can schedule quarterly sessions when I’m in the Baltimore/DC area.
Clients outside of those areas can create their own schedules. I’m open to travel, and San Diego is a beautiful destination.
Cuddle Therapy and Human Connection Coaching are intense touch therapy processes for both the client and the practitioner. I aim to offer this work to underserved populations while avoiding burnout, so I can provide my best self to all clients. Therefore, I use a sliding scale fee structure, where those who can pay more help support those who can't. During our intake process, you’ll determine your rate. Please see rate information here.
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If you're not in San Diego, that's fine. Clients can visit for a multi-day one-on-one workshop, or I can visit you. We'll create a schedule that fits your needs. If you're in Los Angeles or Orange County, I see clients there once a month. On the East Coast, I return to the Baltimore/DC area quarterly for client sessions.
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Cuddle therapy and human connection coaching don't require a talk therapist, but I think using both in conjunction is more effective.
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"Reset your baseline" means helping your nervous system feel safe and secure. Our nervous systems grow from infancy, shaped by our main caregiver. If that caregiver is stressed or distracted, it can impact our development. Luckily, our brains can adapt, allowing us to change some of those early experiences. If you've experienced trauma or difficult relationships, your nervous system may not feel safe now. I focus on helping clients feel safer in their nervous system. With my guidance, you can become more comfortable in your body and with others, allowing you to carry that confidence into all your relationships.
If you have more questions, please check the FAQ. If you can't find the answer there, you can email your questions using 'Let's Connect.'
“Few practitioners can blend their own humanity with their expertise as readily and sincerely as Michelle. Her openhearted, well-boundaried poise is the hallmark of her distinct brand of compassionate professionalism. Her character and practice model a soft power, firm courage, and guiding discipline that is aspirational to clients and colleagues alike.”
— Brandon Hunter-Haydon, MSW, CSE, RYT and Surrogate Partner
