We recently connected with Elijah Zoarski and have shared our conversation below.
Elijah, appreciate you joining us today. How’s you first get into your field – what was your first job in this field?
My work in the mental health industry started at a club in Santa Monica, selling bottles of Alcohol.
It all started at a cozy little bar in Santa Monica. Cozy is a fancy word for “hardly anyone showed up.” But with a bit of persuasion, some good Instagram stories, and heaps of determination, that tiny space turned from a 20-person snooze fest to a hotspot with 200 college students from surrounding areas. It wasn’t just about bringing the crowd but building relationships and serving some Rizz (charisma).
Fast forward two years, the sleepless nights, the champagne showers, and the not-so-glamorous mornings after. While the party was always a good time, I noticed that all the glitter wasn’t gold: friends seeking solace in substances, trying to dance away their troubles. This realization sent me into a downward spiral, making me think, am I the one fueling some of these unhealthy habits?
Lightbulb moment! My marketing prowess could be used for more than just getting people on the dance floor. Why not shift the skills I learned from promoting wild nights to healing lives? Enter my 180 moment: an addiction recovery center. Trading in strobe lights for therapy sessions was quite the transition. But in both worlds, I found my groove – first by promoting the idea of numbing the pain and then by championing the importance of confronting and healing it.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
After my stint in addiction recovery, I quickly noticed that some in the rehab industry were more interested in their bottom line than, well, actual healing. At this point in my career, I was interested in how the body and brain held trauma.
I emailed practically every professor in UCLA’s Psychology and Neuroscience division on a caffeine-fueled whim. 200 emails and 199 no-responses later, I was on board with the Rissman lab, playing with neuromodulation! I got so engrossed I started developing my learning further in courses like Neuroanatomy, Neurophysiology, and Pharmacology.
All of this research made me think, “what is the future of healing,” I found myself in the thick of research about using psychedelics like Ketamine, Psilocybin, and MDMA to heal. I knocked on the door of a local clinic pioneering these therapies in Santa Monica and asked for a job.
While working at the clinic in Santa Monica, I started posting consistently on TikTok about out of the medicine options for people struggling with depression, anxiety, and PTSD. To my surprise, the content went super viral, screwing over 45+ million views on these types of treatments/overall mental health content. This led to clinics offering similar services around the US asking for support with marketing. I now work with clinics throughout the US, helping clinics reach new patients.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
CONTENT. CONTENT. CONTENT. Posting on Social media was the best thing I could have done.
Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?
Robert Greene – Mastery
Contact Info:
- Website: http://psyclehealth.com/
- Instagram: @breakthepsycle
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elijah-zoarski/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLuEv-SUZDg
- Other: @makingitez tik tok
Image Credits
yes