Coffin therapy has appeared in Russia

In addition to traditional services, the Samara funeral home offers its clients an unusual service — coffin therapy. It was first presented last year at a funeral forum in Moscow by the owner of the Funeral Services Center “Blessings of Memory” Ekaterina Kostyleva. She told Kholod that she has conducted several such sessions since then.

According to Kostyleva, there are many people who want to be “buried alive,” but in order to use this service, you need permission from a psychologist and certificates from a narcologist and psychiatrist.

"There are a lot of people who want to, but you can't just come to me off the street, because the procedure is, in fact, unsafe. I won't take you without a certificate that you are not registered with a mental health clinic or drug addiction clinic. Also, during coffin therapy, a psychologist is required to work with the person," Kostyleva said.

Before the start of coffin therapy, the scenario is discussed with the client, the model of the coffin, clothing, the number of mourners are discussed, if mourners are needed, they will be provided. On the day of the "funeral", the psychologist holds another session with the person to make sure that he has not changed his mind, Kostyleva said.

The person is then taken to the embalming room, where they are changed and placed for a minute in a refrigerated chamber where bodies are stored. After this, the client is placed in a coffin.

"I recommend taking the cheapest coffin, covered with red velvet with a black border. This is the fear of our childhood, and I think that everyone has it. This enhances the effect of coffin therapy. And we cannot hammer nails into Euro-coffins, they are screwed in and, accordingly, there is no effect," Kostyleva explained.

The coffin is carried into the funeral hall, where friends, relatives or hired mourners are already waiting, if the person does not want to shock their loved ones. There, the farewell ceremony takes place, and the lid of the coffin is nailed down. According to Kostyleva, this item in the funeral program can be omitted. "The adrenaline is, of course, strong, it is very scary," she explained, adding that she had experienced coffin therapy herself.

The hearse takes the coffin with the living person to a "special place" and supposedly buries it. In reality, only a few handfuls of earth are thrown onto the lid of the coffin.

"They threw three handfuls of earth and that's it. If a person wants to lie down, then he stays in the coffin for some time," Kostyleva said. After the person is taken out of the coffin, the psychologist holds another session with him, and then meets several more times over the course of a month.

One session of coffin therapy costs from 35 thousand rubles. Since December of last year, five of them have been held in Samara. Kostyleva claims that in this way a person can supposedly cope with deep depression and suicidal thoughts.

The theme of one's own funeral is popular in the world. Thousands of people arrange "living funerals" for themselves. This step is taken by terminally ill people who want to prepare their relatives for the inevitable, and those who are simply curious about how their funeral will go.

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