On October 18, 2025, from 5:00 p.m. to around 6:30 p.m., Budapest (Budapest) will host an event focused on recognizing and changing unhelpful relationship and dating patterns. Clinical psychologist and schema therapist Petra Vágyi will lead a talk titled “Our Schemas in Relationships,” aimed at helping people identify the often-unseen patterns that drive their choices and reactions in love and relationships. This event at Kálmán Bookseller Boulevard 12-14 (Könyves Kálmán körút 12-14) promises to be an eye-opener for anyone tired of repeating the same mistakes.
Why Do We Keep Making the Same Mistakes?
Ever feel like you’re stuck in a loop, falling for the same type of partner or ending up in similar toxic dynamics, no matter how hard you try to avoid them? Petra Vágyi explains that it’s as though we each have a hidden “red button”: certain situations automatically trigger familiar thoughts, feelings, and reactions, even when we know deep down they’re not going to lead anywhere good. These patterns, or schemas, run beneath the surface, guiding us unconsciously—until we learn to recognize them.
The Origins of Our Schemas
These recurring, often destructive relationship blueprints aren’t random. According to Petra Vágyi, schemas develop during childhood and adolescence, usually when basic needs aren’t fully met. Early emotional shortfalls shape the way we see ourselves and the world, often distorting our sense of reality in key areas. We go through life convinced our thoughts and feelings are hard truths, only to notice—if we’re lucky—that the same unhappy scenarios keep coming up over and over. Strategies that once protected us as children become barriers as adults, holding us back from healthier relationships.
What Schema Therapy Can Offer
Schema therapy is about shining a light on those automatic, outdated scripts and learning how to let them go. It helps people figure out what they truly need in the present, instead of what they think they’re supposed to do based on old wounds. At Vágyi’s talk, examples and real-life stories will illustrate how past experiences shape current relationship behavior, so you can start to become an expert at spotting and changing your own patterns.
Taking Control of Your Story
The aim of the event is for participants to identify their personal relationship schemas and take the first step toward breaking free. By recognizing how these patterns operate, you can begin to let go of automatic, schema-driven reactions and instead build up your healthy adult self—someone able to see what’s happening inside and actually do something different.
More About the Speaker
Petra Vágyi is not just a clinical psychologist and couples therapist; she has also authored bestselling books like “In the Captivity of Our Schemas – How to Break Free from Repetitive Scripts?” (2021), which explores why we repeat self-destructive habits in relationships and how to rewrite those scripts. Her 2023 book, “Our Schemas in Relationships – In Search of Relationship Problems and Dating Difficulties,” goes even deeper into how these patterns play out in romantic life.
Tickets cost about $14. She has also worked as a university lecturer and emphasizes helping people recognize not just their behaviors, but also the deep needs and motivations beneath them.
Mark your calendar for October 18, 2025, in Budapest, and start learning how to press a new button—one that leads to real change.
