Not Everyone Can Be Elvis: On the Real Work with the Soul

Interview with Hypnotherapist Alexey Ivanov Tsaryovokshaysky

— Interviewer: Alexey, today we see an explosion of methods, schools, and techniques in the field of hypnosis and therapy. More and more professionals are emerging, some promising quick results after brief training. How do you feel about this trend?

— A.I. Tsaryovokshaysky: With interest — and caution. We’re living in an era of abundant forms. Some people play singing bowls, some use drums, some heal via Instagram. It’s all part of the modern cultural landscape, and I don’t dismiss it. I’ve participated in retreats myself and found value in the experience.
But — and this is crucial — what truly matters is the result. Not the performance, not the appearance, but the real inner shift that stays with a person. Real work demands more than method — it calls for depth.
YouTube might promise that you can become a “certified specialist” in 48 hours. Maybe that’s possible on paper. But to be a true specialist, you need effort, effort, and more effort — and a touch of grace. Just like in music: anyone can learn to play an instrument, but not everyone becomes Elvis Presley. It’s the same in hypnotherapy. You can learn the tools — but not everyone can truly hear the soul of a client.

— Interviewer: How do you hear the soul of a person? What does that mean to you?

— A.I. Tsaryovokshaysky: Every person who sits in front of me is like an open book — but not a blank one. It’s already been written in. Sometimes beautifully, sometimes carelessly, sometimes painfully. Like a wedding guestbook where two hundred people have left their wishes — not all of them about love.
My job is not to rewrite the book, but to find the lines that you want to make central. The ones you’d write in gold into the next chapters of your life. And to do that, I have to ask: Why are you the way you are? Who wrote those early sentences? Whose fears, habits, and beliefs have shaped your inner landscape?

— Interviewer: So you’re looking for an original code?

— A.I. Tsaryovokshaysky: Exactly. Every one of us carries a “code” — a set of algorithms formed over time, often starting in childhood. An avoidance algorithm. A fear algorithm. A self-sabotage algorithm.
And my job is to find the right cipher — the new, conscious code that you want to install in your system. It’s not forced reprogramming — it’s co-authorship.
This applies to everything, even something as seemingly simple as a bad mood. People say: “I have depression.” But often, it’s just a habit of thinking badly. A habit of not noticing the good. A habit of living in gray tones. And that’s a program, too — one that can be rewritten. Not with pills, but with attention. With gratitude. With the ability to see color again.

— Interviewer: You say you teach people how to feel joy. That sounds simple, but is it?

— A.I. Tsaryovokshaysky: The difficulty isn’t in the technique — it’s in giving oneself permission.
When a client sits in the special hypnosis chair — it’s not just a therapeutic position. It’s a symbol of readiness. Of openness to something new.
Together, we look for that path of joy on the map of their life. Sometimes it’s overgrown. Sometimes long forgotten. But it’s there. And once we find it, the real teaching begins.
Joy is a practice. A habit. A neural pathway. We chart a new course, and over time, it becomes part of the person’s thinking, movement, and speech. And when joy becomes your default setting — it’s no longer a suggestion. It’s your way of being.

Closing Statement

A.I. Tsaryovokshaysky:

I don’t turn you into someone else. I simply clear the noise so that you can finally hear your true self.
Sometimes you come to me with pain — and leave with direction. Sometimes with shadows — and leave with a compass.
I give you tools. But it’s you who climbs.
And the day you smile for no reason — that’s the day I know: you’ve learned joy. And that means you’re already free.

Tags: Алексей Иванов, Алексей Иванов-Царёвококшайский, Здоровье