Anatoly Kashpirovsky, Soviet-era television psychotherapist and politician, dies in Russia

Anatoly Kashpirovsky, a Ukrainian-born figure who became known for televised psychotherapy and hypnosis sessions in the late 1980s, has died in Russia at 87.

His director told Russian media that Kashpirovsky died of cardiac arrest.

Broadcast sessions from Kyiv

Kashpirovsky was born on August 11, 1939, in Stavnytsia, now in Ukraine’s Khmelnytskyi region. He graduated from Vinnytsia Medical Institute in 1962, worked in medical facilities in Vinnytsia, later served as a psychotherapist to the Soviet weightlifting team and headed the Republican Psychotherapy Centre in Kyiv.

His public profile grew after televised “healing” sessions broadcast from Kyiv, which relied mainly on hypnosis and suggestion. The first episode of “Health Sessions by Psychotherapist Anatoly Kashpirovsky” aired on October 8, 1989; later programmes were shown on Sundays every two weeks.

American journalist David Remnick estimated that the broadcasts were watched by 300 million viewers across the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Kashpirovsky claimed in his autobiography that he had helped about 10 million people during six hours of television airtime.

Medical criticism and politics

Medical professionals criticised Kashpirovsky’s methods. In 2006, he was found guilty of unlawful medical practice after an examination concluded that his hypnosis methods were harmful to mental and physical health.

Kashpirovsky served as a Russian State Duma deputy for the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia from 1993 to 1995, but the supplied account says he did not take an active role in parliamentary work. He moved to the United States several years later and continued holding his sessions there.

In recent years, he hosted programmes on his YouTube channel and held meetings with supporters in Russia. The last livestream on the channel was broadcast in March 2026 under the title “Session for Saving Hearts.”