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psychotherapist · playwright · director

Working with mind and body — where psychology meets theatre

Individual sessions (Gestalt, EMDR, psychodrama, my own method), online therapeutic and educational groups — in Ukrainian, Russian, and English, from anywhere in the world. For over 25 years I've taught people to master their mind and body — on stage and in life.

OnlineZoom, any time zone
UA · RU · ENthree working languages
EMDRcertified therapist
25+ yearsteaching and practice
Misha Kostrov
What I work with

You might be here right now

Emigration and loss of footing

A new country, a foreign language, "who am I now." We rebuild your sense of self and your right to belong.

Anxiety and burnout

When there's a constant undertone of tension inside, and rest doesn't restore you.

Traumatic experience

War, loss, rupture. Careful work at a pace your psyche can hold.

Relationships

Recurring patterns, conflict, the difficulty of being close while staying yourself.

Self-expression and voice

Fear of the stage and of being seen, "stuck" creativity, searching for your calling.

A crisis of meaning

When the old life is over and the new one hasn't started yet.

Ways of working

How we can work together

One-on-one

Individual sessions online

Personal 50-minute sessions, once a week. We choose the approach for your request: EMDR, psychodrama, Gestalt, Ericksonian hypnosis, or my own method.

Learn more and book
In a group

Therapeutic and educational groups

Closed online groups of 8–12 people. Therapeutic groups — living through your story in action. Educational groups — training mastery of mind and body.

Group schedule

Sensorica →

My own practice of awareness and state management.

Trainings and workshops →

Psychodrama for life and business, Creating Worlds.

Books and playwriting →

Books in progress, plays, research, directing.

Subscription channels →

Daily practices and members-only material — at your own pace.

Method

Why working with a director and playwright is different

For over 25 years I taught acting for the stage and for life: teaching people to master their mind and body, to reach goals — on camera, on stage, and beyond. Alongside that, I directed plays, made films, and wrote for the theatre.

As a playwright I specialize in post-traumatic dramaturgy: my master's research at the University of Ottawa examined how the structure of drama mirrors a person's path of recovery after trauma. I know how stories are built — and how living through them works.

To this experience I added therapeutic tools — EMDR, psychodrama, a Gestalt approach with a focus on trauma and grief, Ericksonian hypnosis — and it all came together in a method I call "The Art of Being Alive." Your story isn't just retold — it's lived through: you can step back into a scene from the past, say what went unsaid, meet the person you never got to meet. The body and action reach what words alone can't, for years.

  • Certified EMDR therapist and Ericksonian hypnotherapist; within the Gestalt approach — a focus on trauma and grief work (practising under regular supervision)
  • Creator of the "Art of Being Alive" method — a book is in progress
  • Master of Arts in Theatre, Theory and Dramaturgy (University of Ottawa) — a model of post-traumatic dramaturgy, the play "Thy Word Be Done"
  • Winner of the "Zolota Dziga" National Film Award and a Cannes Corporate Media & TV Award
  • Hundreds of students and clients over 25+ years of practice
Misha Kostrov leading a group
Testimonials

What students and clients say

"I'd been searching for something like this for a long time — without fully realizing how much I needed to truly live through life with feelings and emotions, through actions and bodily responses, rather than just watching it pass by. Misha helped me open up, become more perceptive and engaged, and revealed a whole range of skills in me — useful both on stage and in everyday life. I felt real personal growth, right in the direction of my own discomfort."
— Yevgeniy Lipst
"When your hands drop, when it feels like you're at the edge, Kostrov knows how to spark confidence in your own abilities. After every session, the noise gives way to awareness, creative fullness, a deeper understanding of the world and your place in it — a complete intellectual and emotional insight."
— Maria Sokolovska