Adult cuddle doll

The therapy dolls and empathy dolls have been used very successfully in the psychoanalytic care of children, mentally handicapped people and people with dementia for quite some time. This form of treatment goes back to the Austrian psychologist Jacob Levy Moreno, who developed psychodrama in the 1920s through his observations of children's play behavior.

Psychodrama is a form of group therapy in which individuals must try to portray their current situation in a scenic way. All inner emotions are reflected outwards and made tangible for others. Since this form of external reflection is not always particularly easy for children, Moreno came up with the idea of ​​using puppets. After initial success, this form of treatment became more popular and since then therapy dolls have been an integral part of the treatment of children.

Therapy dolls have a calming effect on older people suffering from dementia and also offer people with intellectual disabilities an opportunity to open up. This means that fewer sedatives and medications need to be administered when people with a behavioral disorder or mental illness are allowed to take care of an empathy doll.