diff --git a/lib/ld-eventsource/client.rb b/lib/ld-eventsource/client.rb
index c018151..c4dd44a 100644
--- a/lib/ld-eventsource/client.rb
+++ b/lib/ld-eventsource/client.rb
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 require "ld-eventsource/impl/backoff"
+require "ld-eventsource/impl/basic_event_parser"
 require "ld-eventsource/impl/buffered_line_reader"
 require "ld-eventsource/impl/event_parser"
 require "ld-eventsource/events"
@@ -6,6 +7,7 @@
 
 require "concurrent/atomics"
 require "logger"
+require "openssl"
 require "thread"
 require "uri"
 require "http"
@@ -49,6 +51,9 @@ class Client
     # The default value for `reconnect_reset_interval` in {#initialize}.
     DEFAULT_RECONNECT_RESET_INTERVAL = 60
 
+    # The default HTTP method for requests.
+    DEFAULT_HTTP_METHOD = "GET"
+
     #
     # Creates a new SSE client.
     #
@@ -84,6 +89,10 @@ class Client
     # @param socket_factory [#open] (nil)  an optional factory object for creating sockets,
     #   if you want to use something other than the default `TCPSocket`; it must implement
     #   `open(uri, timeout)` to return a connected `Socket`
+    # @param http_method [String] (DEFAULT_HTTP_METHOD) the HTTP method to use for requests
+    # @param http_payload [Hash] ({}) JSON payload to send with requests (only used with POST/PUT methods)
+    # @param parse [Boolean] (true) whether to parse SSE events or pass through raw chunks
+    # @param verify_ssl [Boolean] (true) whether to verify SSL certificates; set to false for development/testing
     # @yieldparam [Client] client  the new client instance, before opening the connection
     #
     def initialize(uri,
@@ -92,18 +101,28 @@ def initialize(uri,
           read_timeout: DEFAULT_READ_TIMEOUT,
           reconnect_time: DEFAULT_RECONNECT_TIME,
           reconnect_reset_interval: DEFAULT_RECONNECT_RESET_INTERVAL,
+          http_method: DEFAULT_HTTP_METHOD,
+          http_payload: {},
           last_event_id: nil,
           proxy: nil,
           logger: nil,
-          socket_factory: nil)
+          socket_factory: nil,
+          parse: true,
+          verify_ssl: true)
       @uri = URI(uri)
       @stopped = Concurrent::AtomicBoolean.new(false)
 
       @headers = headers.clone
       @connect_timeout = connect_timeout
       @read_timeout = read_timeout
+      @http_method = http_method
+      @http_payload = http_payload
       @logger = logger || default_logger
+      @parse = parse
       http_client_options = {}
+      unless verify_ssl
+        http_client_options[:ssl] = { verify_mode: OpenSSL::SSL::VERIFY_NONE }
+      end
       if socket_factory
         http_client_options["socket_class"] = socket_factory
       end
@@ -121,6 +140,8 @@ def initialize(uri,
         http_client_options["proxy"] = {
           :proxy_address => @proxy.host,
           :proxy_port => @proxy.port,
+          :proxy_username => @proxy.user,
+          :proxy_password => @proxy.password,
         }
       end
 
@@ -262,9 +283,9 @@ def connect
         cxn = nil
         begin
           @logger.info { "Connecting to event stream at #{@uri}" }
-          cxn = @http_client.request("GET", @uri, {
-            headers: build_headers,
-          })
+          opts = { headers: build_headers }
+          opts[:json] = @http_payload unless @http_payload.empty?
+          cxn = @http_client.request(@http_method, @uri, opts)
           if cxn.status.code == 200
             content_type = cxn.content_type.mime_type
             if content_type && content_type.start_with?("text/event-stream")
@@ -316,7 +337,11 @@ def read_stream(cxn)
           end
         end
       end
-      event_parser = Impl::EventParser.new(Impl::BufferedLineReader.lines_from(chunks), @last_id)
+      if @parse
+        event_parser = Impl::EventParser.new(Impl::BufferedLineReader.lines_from(chunks), @last_id)
+      else
+        event_parser = Impl::BasicEventParser.new(chunks)
+      end
 
       event_parser.items.each do |item|
         return if @stopped.value
diff --git a/lib/ld-eventsource/impl/basic_event_parser.rb b/lib/ld-eventsource/impl/basic_event_parser.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3eb0533
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/ld-eventsource/impl/basic_event_parser.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+require "ld-eventsource/events"
+
+module SSE
+  module Impl
+    class BasicEventParser
+
+      def initialize(chunks)
+        @chunks = chunks
+      end
+
+      # Generator that parses the input iterator and returns instances of {StreamEvent} or {SetRetryInterval}.
+      def items
+        Enumerator.new do |gen|
+          @chunks.each do |chunk|
+            item = StreamEvent.new(chunk.nil? ? :final_message : :message, chunk, nil, nil)
+            gen.yield item
+          end
+        end
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end
\ No newline at end of file