Eszter Vág

To me, counselling means providing an open space for my client to enable them to explore their life issues within a non-judgmental and supportive atmosphere.

If we decide that we want to work together, I will be interested to hear from you what it is like to be you – how you relate to the world around you, what that feels like for you and how you make meaning of your life experiences. Together, we can explore new perspectives and whether there are any important areas in life that are not in your awareness for some reason, but which you may find helpful to consider.

In other words, I will provide support for you to become more aware of your feelings, thoughts and attitudes that you might be stuck with, and work with you to shed light on potential new choices that you could make to find more meaning in life and live as authentically as it is possible for you.

Counselling sessions last for 50 minutes and take place at a fixed time, usually once a week; although some clients might prefer more frequent sessions. Short term counselling can offer support and focus on a particular issue, while long term counselling provides the space and opportunity for more in-depth exploration of issues. There is no set time over which the process takes place.

The topics you bring to counselling may range from relationships, career, stress, low mood and self-esteem to ones specifically related to your expat status, such as adapting to a new working environment, building new relationships, being away from family and friends in your home country, the feeling of isolation and homesickness or a feeling of homelessness in general.

I am LGBTQ+ (and straight) friendly.

I hold an MA in Existential Psychotherapy and Counselling and an MA in Coaching and Mentoring Practice, both from the UK. Both of my MA dissertations focused on issues that expatriates might face in an environment and culture different from their own.

My previous experience includes providing one-to-one counselling services for clients with presenting issues such as substance misuse, family conflicts, depression and anxiety among others, within the following settings in London: National Health Service (Clapham GP Surgery), Mind (the largest mental health charity in the UK), Blenheim, CASA Alcohol Service (a substance misuse charity) and in Budapest: Kék Pont (a substance misuse charity) and Budapest XVIII. District Special Education Service, as well as the Social Services Centre in Vác. Apart from the above, I have also worked as part of a Human Resources team in the UK and in the education sector in Hungary. I spent over 10 years living away from my home country, and my own joys and challenges as an expat increased my curiosity about how others experience and make sense of their stay within a different country.

The existential-phenomenological approach is based on the work of several philosophers, such as Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger and Sartre, among others. It deals with topics like human suffering, anxiety, free will, the search for meaning, guilt, despair and authenticity. In existential counselling, we consider human life within this philosophical framework. We look at where our place is in the world, and what it means for us to be alive. Human nature is regarded as flexible: in every moment of my existence, I create myself.

The counsellor strives to bracket their own biases and assumptions in order to be as open as possible to the subjective world of the other person, and aims to avoid dogmatic thinking and trying to “cure” any “symptoms”. Rather, the focus is on the exploration of what the client’s relationship is like to the world around them, what kind of choices have led to their current life situation and whether there are any new perspectives that would be helpful to explore.