Let’s face it, most of us nowadays could benefit from therapy. At the Gentle Barn in Santa Clarita, the treatment plan is less conventional than typical practices, swapping the therapist’s couch for the cowpen.
Founder Ellie Laks told KNX News’ Emily Valdez she got the idea when she got a hug from her first cow, Buddha.
“I sat down just to kind of say hello to her and she wrapped her neck around me and held me,” she said. “I was so surprised by that unexpected show of affection that I started crying and I'm very stoic. So I didn't realize how much stress I was carrying in my body, and I just cried it out on her shoulder as she held me and those nightly hugs became something that I relied on at the end of every single day.”
She said she realized the hugs were healing here and that there are people out there who needed some love.
“So I opened the phone book and started calling drug and alcohol rehab centers, domestic violence shelters, homeless shelters, foster agencies, any agency for hurting humans and asked them to bring their clients and they did,” she said.
Laks compared the hugs to a “giant mom hug.”
“It's like going home to mama and getting the best hug and feeling like a child again and feeling in that hug that everything is gonna be ok,” she said.
The cows at the Gentle Barn are specially trained hug therapists. Cow therapy sessions are a donation of $200; however, they do make exceptions for people who are in dire need.
For more information on cow hugging therapy and the Gentle Barn, check out Mike Simpson's episode “Do You Work Here?”
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