Hypnotherapist Alex Peter Ivanov: “I don’t treat a habit — I treat the soul”

Interview with Hypnotherapist Alex Peter Ivanov: “I don’t treat a habit — I treat the soul”

 – Interviewer: You’ve been working with people struggling with addiction for many years. It’s a very complex field. Why did it become your life’s calling?

 – Alex Peter Ivanov: Addiction isn’t just a craving for a substance or a behaviour. It’s a deep inner cry. A soul calling out — and never being heard. Alcohol, drugs, gambling — they’re not the main characters in the drama. They’re crutches, props people lean on to escape pain. I don’t treat alcohol. I don’t just “encode.” I search for the source of pain, and I help the soul to heal. And when the soul begins to breathe freely — the need disappears on its own.

 – Interviewer: What is your view on the well-known Dovzhenko method, which is so often associated with addiction treatment?

 – Alex Peter Ivanov: Dovzhenko is a respected figure, and his contribution is undeniable. In fact, the term “coding” — which became so ingrained in public language — was his invention. But every method has a fragile boundary between essence and imitation. I’ve seen dozens of patients who had gone through “coding” and came to me after relapsing. Why? Because the method was applied mechanically. Intimidation is not healing. Phrases like “If you drink, you’ll die” don’t work in the long run. People aren’t afraid of death — they’re afraid of life without meaning, without love, without peace. I don’t scare people. I guide them.

 – Interviewer: So in your view, the real issue isn’t the addiction itself?

 – Alex Peter Ivanov: Addiction is a symptom. The illness lies in a person’s biography — in broken moments of childhood, in betrayals, in pain no one helped them understand. People don’t drink because they want to — but because they can’t not drink. It’s a form of self-forgetting, an attempt to halt the chaos inside. I help that chaos speak, be heard. Only then can a person refuse alcohol not from fear, but from strength. To say “no” with dignity, with an inner light.

 – Interviewer: Do you share your method with other practitioners?

 – Alex Peter Ivanov: I’ve been asked many times: “Can you teach this?” But it’s hard for me to describe in words what I do. It’s not a script, not a protocol. It’s a meeting of two souls — one asking for healing, and the other becoming a guide. Some of my friends — psychics, sensitives — say I’m just a channel, a conduit between spirit and the human psyche. Maybe so. All I know is: at a certain point in a session, I feel that it’s not me speaking — something speaks through me, something that wants to be born into the world. Is it a gift? Perhaps. But responsibility — absolutely.

 – Interviewer: You sound like someone who believes not just in a method, but in a miracle.

 – Alex Peter Ivanov: A miracle is the right word spoken at the right time. It’s a gaze that doesn’t judge. It’s silence — the kind in which a person suddenly hears themselves. My task is to be present when that happens. That, to me, is hypnotherapy. Tags: Алексей Иванов, Алексей Иванов-Царёвококшайский, Здоровье, соотечественники