Are you stuck in the same relationship patterns over and over? Do you ever feel like there’s an invisible “red button” inside you that, when pressed, launches you into the same unhelpful thoughts, feelings, and reactions every time? Relationship therapist Petra Vágyi is here to help crack the code on why these unwanted relationship dynamics keep appearing in your life—and how you can finally break free.
Discover What’s Running the Show
On Saturday, October 18, 2025, from 5:00 PM to around 6:30 PM, Petra Vágyi, a clinical psychologist, couples and family therapist, and leading expert in schema therapy, will lead a talk at Könyves Kálmán Boulevard (Könyves Kálmán körút) 12-14 in Budapest. The focus: identifying and understanding our unconscious patterns—the “schemas”—that make finding and keeping a relationship so much harder than it should be.
Why Do We Keep Repeating the Same Mistakes?
Nearly everyone has some kind of hidden schema driving their choices. These recurring, often self-destructive patterns usually form in childhood or adolescence, when basic needs weren’t fully met. Maybe, deep down, you learned that your feelings didn’t matter, or that you always had to be perfect to be loved. As adults, we fall back on these old defense strategies, even when they start sabotaging our happiness. Without realizing it, we treat our present-day relationships as if they’re a repeat performance of the past, locking ourselves inside dramas from long ago.
What Schema Therapy Offers
Schema therapy shines a spotlight on these inner processes, helping us let go of the outdated beliefs and automatic scripts that are holding us back. It teaches us to recognize what we actually need right now—not what our younger selves needed then—and shows us practical ways to start meeting those needs as adults. Suddenly, the puzzle pieces—past and present, spoken and unspoken thoughts, patterns of feeling—start to come together.
Become Your Own Expert
Throughout the evening, Vágyi will use real-life examples and stories to bring these hidden dynamics to life—so you can not only recognize the patterns but also begin to change them. The ultimate goal: to strengthen your “healthy adult” self, the part of you that understands what’s happening inside and actually has the power to make things better.
Meet Petra Vágyi
Vágyi brings years of experience, both as a therapist and a lecturer (she has taught at the University of Debrecen and in medical psychology programs since 2005). She’s passionate about helping people break free from inherited scripts—the automatic mental habits born from childhood wounds—so they can stop just trying to fix surface-level behavior and start addressing the real, underlying causes.
Must-Read Books—If You Can’t Wait
Her popular books dive even deeper: “Trapped By Our Schemas (Sémáink fogságában, 2021)” explores the basics of schema therapy and our recurring, self-defeating storylines. “Schemas in Couplehood (Sémáink párban, 2023)” examines relationship patterns, why we end up with the partners we do, and what keeps us stuck.
Tickets are $13.50 (4,990 HUF). If you’re tired of playing the same old roles in love and want to finally rewrite your love story, this is your nudge to start.
