Hug therapy for children with special needs

Scientifically proven! This article is about the need for hugs in the life of every person, especially a child with special needs, and about how the employees of the United World Cultures Foundation, along with the volunteers from detdom.info, give pupils of the Pugachivka orphanage "an elixir of life".

From the first days of the birth of a child, he/she needs hugs. Hugs are one of the most common manifestations of love, a friendly disposition and an exchange of spiritual warmth. Hug is not only pleasant, but also useful. Hugging can decrease blood pressure and improve memory.

The world-famous psychotherapist Virginia Satir, says that 4 hugs a day is needed for everyone to survive. In order for a person to feel safe, comfortable, you need at least 8 hugs a day, and children need even more. Pupils of the Pugachivka orphanage (for girls suffering from oligophrenia in the stage of imbecility, Down's disease, for children deprived of parental care, orphans) need hugs as air, they need positive words, help in fighting their fears and worries. They like to cuddle a lot, because the hugs give a feeling of warmth and security, help them feel needed.

An Italian professor of medicine Vincenzo Marignano called hugs an elixir of life, because they not only strengthen health, but also prolong life. The same view is shared by the director of the orphanage Lesya Petrenko. Every day she tries to get around all the pupils and caress them, hug, pat on the head, and there are always some treats in her pockets.

Volunteers from detdom.info and employees of the United World Cultures Foundation, without waiting for a special occasion, visit the pupils of the Pugachivka orphanage once a month to give the magical moments of hugs that will live forever in their thoughts.

"When we come to the orphanage, the girls immediately greet us, they really want to hug everyone. It happens that on the one side you hug one child, and with another hand you hug another child, and the third princess is already pressed against your cheek, so in the photographs it comes out as a small roll of hugs. Hugging them, we also receive a portion of the positive energy that each of us needs for happiness, " comments Oksana Zolotukhina, curator-volunteer from detdom.info.

"Year after year, girls learn to enjoy various stimuli - taste, visual, auditory... However, tactile ones are the most powerful. It is proved: kisses and hugs stimulate the production of endorphins - hormones of happiness. The lack of hugs, detachment leads to emotional disturbances in the future. Sincere, warm, pleasant hugs serve for the manifestation of a wide variety of emotions: joy from the meeting, friendly disposition, love, care, support... We all understand the importance of hugs! Therefore, please, join our trips, the girls lack tactile incentives. Hugs are a relationship, support, consolation and the knowledge that they are not alone in this world,” says Lyudmila Lysenko, representative of the United World Cultures Foundation.

We know that hugs will make the orphanage children happier, and we will become kinder, nobler and will find peace and harmony in our own souls, families and throughout the country.