(NewsNation) — Need a good cry but don’t have the time?
A new pop-up in New York City is offering a quiet space where people can let it all out on their lunch break before going back to work. It’s called “Sob Parlor,” and it’s the new go-to spot for emotional release.
“Human beings are the only animals that can produce emotional tears,” Anthony Villioti, the founder of Sob Parlor, said. “So when you deliberately exert tears and emit tears, you are quite literally relieving stress … that’s definitely the main health benefit.”
Grace Tworek, a psychologist at the Cleveland Clinic, agrees that crying can have benefits.
“Crying provides a sense of relief and a cue to relax if you’re in the appropriate setting,” Tworek said.
Emotional customers make an appointment to drop by Sob Parlor on their lunch break or after work. At Sob Parlor, customers rent a 30-minute suite complete with mood lighting, seating and candles and fill out a questionnaire matching them with music and interactive writing prompts to match their emotional profile and get them in the crying mood.
“This one person came in — she had her own crying playlist — and she’s like, ‘I can’t blast this at my house,'” Villiotti said. “(The customer said), ‘I’m just going to go sit in this room for 30 minutes, and I’m going to listen to my crying playlist and cry here.'”
Sob Parlor also offers people caffeine serums, facial rollers and eye masks so they can get back to their day.
Although getting in touch with one’s feelings is a good thing, Tworek cautions people to seek mental health care if needed.
“If you find crying to be beneficial in that you walk away feeling relieved or as if you’ve released something, that’s a great indicator,” Tworek said. “But if there’s something causing that tearfulness or those tears to come up, it may be a really good idea to have a licensed mental health professional to talk through those things with so that you can gain effective coping skills.”
Since there’s no shame in crying, Sob Parlor even has merchandise.
“You are directly helping to, like, destigmatize crying,” Villiotti said. “You’re sending a message that it’s OK, everyone does it. Nothing to be ashamed of.”