Physicians often carry a story that informs their purpose, and for Eugene Lipov, M.D., a physician and researcher, that story began long before he ever stepped into an operating room. For him, the distance between his early memories and his work today remains wide, yet every part of that path seems to have pointed him toward the same destination: offering hope for those who may feel it’s out of reach.
Born in Ukraine, his childhood was surrounded by stories of displacement and the headstrong resilience his family carried with them. His father, a military aviator, returned from service forever changed. His mother had lived through the evacuations from Kyiv in 1941. Their experiences left a deep imprint on the household, and eventually, on him. “There was so much havoc around me,” he recalls. “I was trying to get a deeper understanding of it all, so I began reading about Sigmund Freud when I was just twelve.”
Driven by that early curiosity, Dr. Lipov found himself on a path that led him to a career in medicine. After he finished medical school and entered into residency, he experienced a profound loss that shaped his understanding of emotional suffering more than any textbook could. “My mother had passed away,” he recalls. “A day before that, she had sought psychiatric help, but it didn’t work.”
He became disillusioned with psychology and the lack of impact he believed it held. He chose to pursue anesthesia, then pain medicine, fields that, according to him, were grounded in physiology and clear mechanisms. He always sought specializations where results could be observed, measured, and refined.
“Even then, life has a way of circling back to the very subjects we try to outrun,” says Dr Lipov, revealing his path back to the discipline of psychology and psychiatry. The return came through an unexpected chain of events involving a procedure he had learned early in his medical training: the stellate ganglion block (SGB), originally used for chronic pain management. “I was attempting to relieve a patient’s hot flashes, an indication for SGB,” Dr. Lipov shares. “After extensive study, I thought the SGB injection could probably help manage stress.”
Years of research followed, which enabled him to understand how certain negative experiences can shape the brain’s stress pathways. He refined the technique with SGB and developed the Dual Sympathetic Reset (DSR) protocol in 2013. According to Dr. Lipov, the DSR could “reset” a person’s fight-or-flight response to what it was before distressing events shaped their behavioural responses. Over time, Dr. Lipov formulated the DSR in a way that could support military hospitals and specialized clinics, aiming to help those searching for relief. He has continued to advocate for this evolving field, awaiting clinical trial results expected to be published in 2026.
Through these efforts, Dr. Lipov sought to embody the role of not only a physician but also an advocate for shifting the way people talk about stress disorders. “I prefer using the term injury instead of disorder,” he says. The distinction, he explains, could allow people to view what they’re experiencing without shame. In a study he conducted, many respondents said that changing the term would reduce stigma and increase the likelihood of seeking treatment. “To me, language can restore hope,” he says. “And hope can be everything.”
Dr. Lipov has also co-written the upcoming book, The God Shot, which is expected to be released on February 17th, 2026. The book will bring together the science, stories, and global lessons behind his work. A Spanish-language audiobook will be released first, on December 15. “Mental pain is universal,” he says. “If you’re not reading in English, that doesn’t mean you’re not struggling. So we’re making this message as accessible as we can.” Additional translations are planned, supported by new tools that allow him to create multilingual content and even video conversations that mirror his voice in other languages.
He also hosts the podcast Brain, Hope, Reality, where he explores the emotional and neurological landscape of various psychiatric conditions through conversations with scientists, service members, creators, and everyday individuals. The through-line of every episode, and indeed every piece of his work, is that people deserve understanding and a pathway toward feeling whole again.
Today, Dr. Eugene Lipov continues to expand this mission internationally through research, education, and the nonprofit he founded, Erase PTSD Now. Through it all, the foundation remains the same: a belief that sorrow can be eased, that recovery can be accessible, and that people deserve to carry hope rather than fear.
“I’ve been digging at this for a long time,” he says. “If there’s any chance to help someone the way I wish my mother could have been helped, I’m going to stay in the game.”
About the expert:
Dr. Eugene Lipov is a physician in anesthesiology and pain medicine, and a researcher who has implemented the use of the Stellate Ganglion for managing symptoms of stress and anxiety. He’s also the Chief Medical Officer at Stella Health and the founder of Erase PTSD Now.
References:
- Faculty of Pain Medicine: Stellate Ganglion Block for the Treatment of Pain https://fpm.ac.uk/sites/fpm/files/documents/2023-08/Stellate%20Ganglion%20Block.pdf
- Cureus: Survey Reveals That Renaming Post-Traumatic Stress ‘Disorder’ to ‘Injury’ Would Reduce Stigma https://dreugenelipov.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/20230610-32393-9tbamg.pdf
This article is for informational purposes only and does not substitute for professional medical advice. If you are seeking medical advice, diagnosis or treatment, please consult a medical professional or healthcare provider.
