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Takács Bálint

About

Takács Bálint, PhD

Psychologist; family and couples therapy candidate.

Doctorate (PhD), Theoretical Psychoanalysis Programme, PTE BTK, 2025. The 'candidate' status refers to the clinical (MCSE) couples and family therapy qualifying examination, which is a separate professional track.

I work as a psychologist and as a family and couples therapy candidate: online, in English, by video call. Therapy, in this view, is not a technique or a trick but a particular kind of relationship, within which it becomes possible to look together at what occupies you, what hurts, or where something has become stuck.

I do not think on your behalf, and quick cures are not what is on offer here. What is on offer is to stand alongside you and to hold the space while you do the work.

What does "candidate" mean? I already practise as a family and couples therapist, in the final phase of a four-year training programme, with ongoing supervision and personal-development work. The qualifying examination concludes that path, but the work I do with you is already a full therapeutic frame. (The PhD I hold is a separate, research degree.)

Portrait of Takács Bálint

How the work unfolds

Several traditions of professional thinking shape how this work meets you. They are open frames rather than doctrines; what helps in a given situation is drawn from each.

Who this work is for

There is no need to place yourself in any one of these categories; they are directions, rather than boxes, along which people often come.

What is not offered here

So that the frame remains clear and responsible, it is worth being explicit about what is not offered here:

  • Treatment of severe anxiety disorders or other psychiatric conditions that significantly impair daily functioning; these call for psychiatric or clinical psychological care.
  • Establishing a clinical diagnosis.
  • Writing expert opinions or assessments.
  • Prescribing medication.

If it is not clear whether this is the right place for your situation, please feel free to write. A conversation makes things clearer, and if a referral elsewhere is more appropriate, help with finding that is also offered.

Professional path

I read psychology at the University of Pécs, completing a BA in behavioural analysis and, in 2012, an MA as a qualified psychologist (okleveles pszichológus). I then pursued doctoral studies in the Theoretical Psychoanalysis Doctoral Programme led by Professor Ferenc Erős, and was awarded a doctorate (PhD) in 2025: a research degree, not a clinical qualification.

During and after my university years I gained practical experience in the helping professions. Between 2011 and 2013 I volunteered as a telephone counsellor with the Youth Mental Health Emergency Service (Ifjúsági Lelki Elsősegély Szolgálat); it was there that I learned how to receive the first sentences when someone calls in distress.

For four years I worked in the social sector, as a psychologist and school psychologist with children, young people and families in difficult circumstances. Over several years I led drug-prevention sessions in schools across Pécs and Baranya county (INDIT Public Foundation).

Since 2017 I have been training with the Hungarian Family Therapy Association in systemic family and couples therapy: the theoretical module is complete and I am now in the supervision phase. In 2024–2025 I completed the theoretical module of the DREAM short-term psychodynamic therapy training. I have been seeing clients in private practice since 2023.

The work with my clients is conducted under continuous supervision. My own personal-development and experiential work is an essential part of this path: in total around 270 hours of group experiential training (psychodrama, DREAM).

Key milestones

2011–2013
Telephone volunteer, crisis intervention (Mental Health Emergency Service)
2012
Qualified psychologist, MA (University of Pécs)
2017
Couples and family therapy training begins (Hungarian Family Therapy Association)
2018–2022
Psychologist and school psychologist (Family and Child Welfare Centre, Sásd)
2023
Private practice begins
2024–2025
DREAM theoretical foundation training (short-term psychodynamic therapy)
2025
PhD (research degree), Theoretical Psychoanalysis Programme (University of Pécs)

Professional memberships

Current

  • Hungarian Family Therapy Association (Magyar Családterápiás Egyesület, MCSE) : Where I am completing my training as a couples and family therapist.

Academic and research memberships

Academic network memberships acquired during the doctoral years, for those interested in the professional background.

  • British Psychological Society (BPS) (2018–2021)
  • International Society of Political Psychology (ISPP) (2017–2019)
  • COST social psychology research group (2015–)
  • Eötvös Loránd University, Social Theory College (TEK), Critical Psychology Workshop (2014–, external member)

Publications and conference talks →

Ready for a conversation?

The initial consultation lasts 70 minutes: together we look at what you need and whether this is the right place to find it.

Take the first step