In a Bit More Detail…

People often ask me how and why I became a hypnotist. It remains a rare profession, still surrounded by outdated myths and stage-show stereotypes.

My fascination with hypnosis began when I was five years old, growing up in Russia. My mother took me to a stage hypnosis performance. I remember watching adults suddenly behave like children—playing with imaginary toys and speaking in high, playful voices. I was captivated and confused.

How could the mind shift so quickly?

That question stayed with me.

Years later, I came to the United States as an exchange student. Eventually, I settled in New York City and began building my life from scratch. I was 23, sleeping on a floor mattress in Brooklyn, navigating a new language, culture, and city—driven by ambition but with no clear roadmap.

I wanted to thrive. I wanted to write, to speak, to create films. I wanted to understand human behavior deeply enough to shape my own trajectory.

One day I came across an advertisement for a hypnosis course. The childhood memory resurfaced immediately. This was the mystery I had never solved. But more than that, I sensed something practical: perhaps hypnosis could be used not as spectacle—but as a tool for conscious growth.

After my first training, I began creating self-hypnosis recordings for myself. I recorded scripts to refine my speech, strengthen my confidence in acting classes, become a fearless driver, and develop a healthier relationship with money and success. I was experimenting with internal narrative rewiring long before it became a popular concept.

As I deepened my training and exchanged sessions with experienced practitioners, I saw the structured power of hypnotherapy: not magic, not mind control—but focused attention combined with suggestion and behavioral integration.

At some point I asked myself a simple question:

Why not build a practice?

Not as a fallback—but as a path.

I used hypnosis on myself to embody the identity of a successful practitioner before I became one externally. I visualized it, rehearsed it, conditioned it. Then I acted. I apprenticed, wrote, networked, created content, bartered sessions, and learned from established hypnotherapists in New York City.

Soon I was interviewed by the New York Post, and later by The New York Times. I built a practice on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, helping individuals strengthen confidence, overcome fears, break habits, and expand perspective.

Alongside building my clinical work, I earned my Bachelor of Science from The New School University and later a Master of Science in Administrative Sciences with a concentration in Executive Coaching and Organizational Behavior. My practice gradually expanded into executive coaching, leadership development, and performance psychology.

Over the past 20 years, I have worked with more than a thousand clients—including professionals, creatives, entrepreneurs, performers, and executives—supporting behavioral change, confidence, emotional regulation, and high-performance mindset.

My life has also been international. I lived in the United States for over two decades, spent three years in Brazil, and currently live in Italy. I divide my time between the U.S. and Europe, working globally and traveling extensively throughout Europe. This cross-cultural experience deeply informs my work: I understand adaptation, reinvention, and identity transition firsthand.

Today, I work primarily online and in person in New York City and Rome. I integrate hypnosis, executive coaching, and developmental psychology to help clients recalibrate internal patterns and expand how they see themselves and the world.

I also founded HypnoCloud and AlphaMind—two digital platforms designed to make structured self-hypnosis and intentional mental conditioning accessible beyond the therapy room.

A Final Note on Stage Hypnosis

The childhood mystery that started this journey turned out to be far less mystical than it appeared.

Stage hypnosis is not mind control. Participants are not unconscious. It is a social dynamic—a voluntary compliance within an agreed-upon performance structure. People on stage know what they are doing; they are responding to suggestion within a framework of permission.

Clinical hypnotherapy, however, is different. It is focused attention, intentional suggestion, and structured cognitive integration designed to create measurable behavioral change.

That early question led me not into illusion—but into disciplined inner work.

And that is the work I continue today.

Education, Schools & Certifications

The New School University, New York, NY
Bachelor of Science in Film & Media Studies

The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD)
Master of Science in Administrative Sciences
Concentration in Executive Coaching & Organizational Behavior

International Coaching Federation (ICF)
Professional Certified Coach (PCC)

National Guild of Hypnotists (NGH)
Certified Hypnotist & Member

Society of Applied Hypnosis
Clinical Hypnotherapy Training (Mark Cunningham)

Institute of Mind and Body Research (IMBRE)
Advanced Hypnotherapy Certification (Dr. George Bien)

NLP Center of New York
Practitioner & Master Practitioner Certifications
(Dr. Rachel Hott & Steven Leeds)

Two Arrows Zen / Zen Leader Training
Mediation & Conflict Resolution Facilitation
with Diane Musho Hamilton

Contemplative & Personal Development Training

Vipassana Meditation (10-Day Silent Retreat)
Massachusetts, USA
As taught by S.N. Goenka in the tradition of Sayagyi U Ba Khin

Plant Medicine & Consciousness Exploration Retreats
Participation in structured ceremonial settings in Peru, the United States, Italy, and Puerto Rico

Woman Within" International
Initiation Weekend, Wholeness 5-Day Retreat, and Advanced Skills Workshops