I'm Michelle Renee, a Holistic Intimacy Coach with over 10 years of experience helping people come home to their own bodies and to the possibility of closeness with others, often after years of feeling disconnected, guarded, or unsure how to let anyone in. I'm based in San Diego, and I also see clients quarterly in the Baltimore/DC area and in Pittsburgh, PA.

What draws me to this work is deeply personal. I've seen how much most of us are starving for presence without conditions attached, someone who shows up fully, doesn't flinch, and doesn't need us to be fixed. I offer that. Not as a performance of care, but as something real, held safely within rigorous ethical structure. I believe safety is the ground everything else grows from. Once someone feels truly safe, closeness becomes possible, and once closeness is possible, so much else in a person's life starts to open up too.

I'm considered an industry leader in cuddle therapy and surrogate partner therapy, with particular depth in the non-sexual model and in the space where these two approaches overlap. My sessions are consent-based and non-sexual, rooted in therapeutic touch and relational healing. We begin fully clothed, and anything beyond that only ever evolves with clarity, consent, and trust earned over time.

I love working in person, and that's where I do my deepest work. Virtual sessions are also available, and I often find they're a wonderful way to begin building trust and groundwork before transitioning into in-person sessions together.

A few things that make my approach feel different:
• I'm genuinely willing to love my clients. Unconditional positive regard isn't a clinical pose for me. It's something I offer fully, and it tends to help people remember how to love themselves too.
• I trust my clients' own knowing. I'm not here to diagnose or fix anyone. I'm here to help someone hear what they already sense but haven't had the space to listen to.
• I can hold complexity without rushing to smooth it over. Not every feeling needs an answer in the same session it shows up in. I trust the container we build together more than any single technique. Safety and structure come first, always.

I work with clients of all genders, and while most are single, it's not a requirement. My clients often have a background of abuse in childhood and are seeking comfort in connecting with others, something that's never felt possible.