About Me
Hi! My name is Ilona (pronounced ee-LO-na) Globa.
I'm a Cuddle Therapy and Reiki Level II Certified Practitioner.
I’m an empathic, sensitive, curious human being, and I have always felt that we are more connected than we realize. Leaning into that connection can help us thrive on a personal and on a collective level.
EARLY LIFE
I was born in Ukraine just before the fall of the USSR. My family and I fled my birth nation and we were taken in by Israel as refugees. Growing up in Israel during some crucial formative years, I imprinted on the country and its culture. Surrounded by 3 generations of elders, it felt like a very safe place (despite this being the Gulf War, meaning random bombings in nearby towns, and drills in case of gas attacks).
Then, my father won green cards in the lottery, and we moved to the US when I was still a child, just entering my conscious adult cognition of the world. The American Dream had a powerful PR campaign in the ‘90s.
So while I learned English in school with the help of an Israeli translator, I was still being raised by my Ukrainian immigrant parents at home, where we spoke Russian. For this reason, I feel that the immigrant experience has colored my world just as much as being an American citizen has done.
ADULTHOOD
I graduated with my journalism degree, and I’ve worked for more than 13 years in the Tech for Good and the nonprofit sectors, helping countless NGOs with their fundraising and communications.
I loved helping so many organizations to collect donations and make our communities stronger through their missions. However, due to the remote nature of most tech work, I’ve found it can add to a feeling of social isolation. I have lived on my own most of my adult life, which I enjoyed for many years. But I started to recognize in myself a slow increase in the side effects of loneliness, which included anxiety and a persistent feeling of melancholy and disconnection.
During the pandemic, these were escalated. I would eventually be diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder, alongside my Inattentive ADHD diagnosis. Learning about my neurodivergence, even as an adult, helped me to understand my particular struggles, and to find a community of others with similar experiences and ways to cope and even thrive.
HEALING WORK
I've been working with Reiki (a form of energetic massage which originated in Japan) since early 2021. Specifically, I was trained in Usui/Holy Fire III Reiki Ryoho, studying in both the east coast and west coast of the U.S., with my primary training bein completed through Mainstream Reiki.
I was first drawn to this modality when, during an emotional moment, a friend remarked that I have a naturally warm and soothing touch. I realized how my natural inclination to be tactile, and my love of supporting people through holding space and providing gentle touch, could be more than a coincidence.
And given the added isolation most of us experienced during, and now, after the pandemic, the need for human connection and healing touch has become more apparent than ever before.
I’ve loved providing my clients with the unique, gentle yet potent benefits of Reiki. And now, I'm excited to also offer cuddle therapy, in alignment with my certification from Cuddlist, a platform providing and training on professional platonic touch services. I’m excited to be part of the growing group of cuddle therapist bringing this offering to the broader population, and invite people of all backgrounds to explore this (be it via a 1:1 session, or in a group setting, called a “cuddle puddle”!), if it piques your curiosity.
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When you enter my therapeutic space, the session is for you,
and it is about you.
These sessions will not only help you feel more balanced within your body, but they will also touch on your sense of psychological safety, and how to be empowered to express your wants and needs honestly and authentically.
This is an opportunity to discover any subconscious or unconscious thought patterns that may be limiting you; the ways we protected ourselves in the past, or even continue to do so in the present, which may be stagnating our growth and potential.
I'm so excited to work with you in our session! If you are interested in learning more, please click here (LINK NEEDED) to fill out an intake form. Once I receive this, I will email you to book our video consultation call, where you can learn more about what a cuddle therapy session can offer, and I can learn about your specific needs.
How do I know if we’d be a good fit?
We would be a good pairing for cuddle therapy if you experience one or more of the following:
*If you struggle with people-pleasing, or find yourself repeatedly putting your needs last, only to feel abandoned, this is a space to work through those experiences.
*If you have a hard time expressing your needs or desires, perhaps due to a fear of judgement, or feel like an outsider due to not “fitting the mold,”
*If you are neurodivergent, and want to feel more equilibrium in your mind and body. As a fellow neuro-spicy person, I am able to empathize with your experience, too.
*If you are recovering from a major loss and wish to have a supportive space to process your grief.
*If you come from a background of traumatic experience, be it in childhood or more recently, and are seeking a space where you will not be judged.
We will not be a good fit for you if you are:
*Looking for a sexual experience of any kind. In this case, you will need to seek a sex worker or a sexual surrogate.
*Looking for a mental health professional with talk therapy experience. I can refer you to a specialist, but this is not the core purpose of cuddle therapy. However, cuddle therapy does pair very well with talk therapy, so both are recommended in tandem.
If what I’ve shared above resonated with you, please check out the Cuddle Therapy and Reiki Therapy pages. Click below (or in the header) to learn more!