Jen Matos lives with an impressive menagerie and introduces her animals to people in inspiring ways. She also cares for sentient beings through her business, Touch Needed Massage Therapy and Wellness Center, “dedicated to helping you and your four-legged friends.”

Matos, 41, spent her childhood without animals, but started working for veterinarians during her teens. She offers massage therapy to humans as well as furry, feathered, and scaly beings. Matos earned credentials as a vet tech, yet goes beyond nurturing critters; she also brings animals to humans who benefit from the contact. Before we delve into how healing touch can yield remarkable improvements, let’s look at how Matos facilitates phenomenal encounters.

A miniature horse named CC accompanies Matos to nursing homes and schools. His full name is CC Cutie Pi Morse, and he was named by Matos’s son, Lukin. “CC stands for Color Connection, since we’re Grateful Dead fans, and that’s Pi as in math, because Lukin, who turned 9 on June 13, is really into math. The Morse part stands for miniature horse. Anyway, we just call him CC.” Matos considers her son a business partner, and said, “Lukin names all our animals.”

CC is a therapy horse in training. “He’s fine with riding on elevators at nursing homes and being indoors at schools,” said Matos. “CC is shorter than most Irish Wolfhounds and Great Danes; he weighs about 150 pounds but is more filled out than a dog.” People of all ages adore CC, but Matos said his visits to nursing homes are particularly amazing. Residents who are mobile are magnetized to the little horse, and CC also gracefully visits those who are bedridden.

“CC can walk through a room with trays and machines, no problem. What happens next is that the person in the bed moves their fingers, trying to touch him. Not one [resident] has ever shied away,” said Matos. “Even reserved people tend to come to him. On more than one occasion, when encountering a wheelchair-bound, non-verbal person, CC will walk up to them of his own accord and lay his head in their lap. He reads energy and offers comfort.”

Matos and her son were among the attractions last fall at Barnfest, an annual event hosted by Fabric of Life, a nonprofit organization based at Bassett Brook Farm in Shelburne. Jen and Lukin gave folks chances to meet, hold, and interact with Queen Lola, a bearded dragon, as well as Nibbler, a python. A hedgehog named Luna was a huge hit, as was Buttercup, the runt pot-bellied pig, the most traveled of the family’s critters.

“We have two other pigs, Badger and Dunker,” said Matos. “Together, they’re the three little pigs.” Word play and meaningful names are big in the Matos family. “Our farm is called Stealie Jam, another Grateful Dead reference,” she said. “One of our horses is Keyth Richards.”

Stealie Jam Farm is a dream come true for Matos, and she’s in the process of developing the dream further. “I want to make it into a community spot where we hold events and educational programs.” In addition to horses, ponies, llamas, ducks, and a host of other family members, Lukin and Jen Matos live with Matos’s partner, Derek, and Sophia, age 5, who Matos calls “my bonus daughter.”

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Through massage therapy, Matos helps to improve animals’ health both in our region and further afield. She said that most therapists who provide massage for people don’t easily transfer their skills to animals. Matos holds dual certification, and actually started with animals before deciding to add to her skill set by gaining credentials to offer services to human clients, as well. “Most of my career has been in veterinary medicine, including emergency and critical care,” said Matos. “Working at Tufts and in various ICUs, I dealt with animals on ventilators and those afflicted by neurological seizures. I was a surgical assistant, and I understand pain control.” She has experience with small animals, livestock, and farm animals.

In one case, a Shelburne farmer asked Matos to treat a llama who was supposed to guard goats, but was negligent in his duties. “Llamas are famously reserved,” said Matos, “but this guy let me do a long session. He seemed to understand that I was touching him in all the right places and using the right amount of pressure to relieve whatever was troubling him. After the treatment, he was back at work in a couple of days.”

Matos travels to Florida every year to treat clients. “One Belgian Malinois (a sheep herding dog) was extremely anxious and didn’t like to be touched. He was always muzzled and high-strung, but when I worked with him, he went belly up and relaxed.”

Cats are among her clients, too; Matos recalled an old tom who had multiple brain surgeries. “Every time I’d do a session with him, he demonstrated signs of increased stimulation by kneading and moving his claws and showing evidence of brain activity.” Matos also helped an Irish Wolfhound, a show dog with multiple knee problems: “After I worked on her and helped her learn how to compensate, she placed in shows, despite her challenges.”

Matos loves all animals, including the two-legged kind: at her wellness center on Main Street in Amherst, she holds events and runs mindful playgroups for kids ages ten and under. “We do crafts, meditation, and breathing exercises, which give kids coping techniques that parents find helpful. People of all ages are inundated by constant distractions in our society, and I love offering more than just body work.” If her own son is any indication, Matos does a great job of mentoring youngsters. The proud mother said, “Lukin is caring and compassionate and loves to share the knowledge he’s gained by living and working with animals. He wants others to experience what he gets to experience.”

To contact Jen Matos, email touchneeded@gmail.com or call 413-341-2177.

Eveline MacDougall is the author of Fiery Hope. To contact her, email eveline@amandlachorus.org.