A bit about me

The beginnings

My first career choice was food & cooking instead of psychology. I started out as a youngster with the dream of opening my own restaurant. After graduating from high school, I went to college to study catering management. I really enjoyed it but soon after graduating from college, I had this ‘crazy’ idea to change careers and study psychology. In order to be enrolled into a psychology programme I needed near top scores, so I set out to resit my high school exams.

Finally, in 2011 that crazy idea did not sound so crazy anymore, and I successfully started my studies in psychology.

I still enjoy cooking today and I completed a Nutrition and Health course as well to learn more about healthy ways of eating and drinking.

“Love is a better teacher than a sense of duty.” (A.E.)

Professional history

As I mentioned it under the ‘Qualifications and Trainings‘ section, I studied psychology in Hungary, Finland and in England. Throughout the years, I started growing more interest towards working with adults, couples and children.

My first professional role after graduation was assistant psychologist at an outpatient psychiatry department of a hospital. I worked there with adults and young people with different mental health conditions and needs, such as anxiety and depression, and I also worked with individuals who had learning difficulties.
The challenging part of that role for me was to put theory into practice in real life. I just freshly graduated from university at the time and I found myself in a professional role in which I was expected to have “the answers”. I remember my anxiety during my first session, I wanted to do and say the ‘right’ things so much that I may have become even more nervous than my first client was. Overcoming this anxiety was a great learning for me.

Later, I worked as a counsellor with adults who experienced homelessness, who were victims of domestic violence, who experienced trauma/loss, symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) due to trauma/loss and who had issues with addictions.

As it happens in every profession and job, there were challenges waiting for me in this role too. The individuals I have worked with had little self-confidence due to their previous life experiences. Working together to find ‘their pace’ was challenging. When their hard work paid off and they felt more content, that was good to see, even as an outsider.

Before I started my private practice, I also worked as a child and adolescent therapist. I worked with children and young people individually, in groups and together with their families. The most prevalent issues I had experience working with in that role were anxiety, depression, bullying, low self-esteem, self-harming behaviour, suicidal ideation, family and other relationship issues, anger-management issues and sleeping difficulties.
What was new for me in that role was bringing the family dynamics into therapy and working collaboratively with the client and their family at the same time. This learning definitely had a positive impact on my therapeutic practice.

Studying psychology was my own decision. I was determined to pursue a career in it. The passion I felt since I had that ‘crazy’ idea after graduating from college fuelled my motivation throughout my studies and also informs my therapeutic practice, hence the above quote by Albert Einstein

What I learned so far in my career (and in my personal life) is that experiencing difficulties can happen to anyone at any stage in life, and that it is okay to ask for help.

Personal interests

As I mentioned it above, I enjoy cooking and creating a good meal, especially if I have the time and energy.
I also enjoy sports in general (I am proud to say that I was a skateboarding champion and a basketball champion in the past). I find exercising relaxing and recharging, even though it can be physically exhausting.
I really enjoy reading as well. To just name a few of my favourites, I like Sherlock Holmes stories, books by Agatha Christie, by Jenő Rejtő, Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe, poetry, scientific books that explain how the world around us works and many other genre of books as well (what is your favourite book?).
I also enjoy visiting places and learning about cultures. One of the most beautiful sceneries I have seen was the Northern Lights.
I would not really say that I am passionate about learning different languages (although, I speak Hungarian, English, and am currently studying Spanish), but I definitely enjoy the challenge of pronounciating foreign words.