Eszter Racs – Clinical Health Psychologist
The body does not forget — but we can teach it new things.
Eszter Racs
- Clinical Health Psychologist
- Somatic Experiencing® Practitioner (SEP)
I am Eszter Racs. As a Clinical Health Psychologist and a Somatic Experiencing® practitioner, I accompany the people who come to me in the inseparable unity of body and mind: gently releasing the tension held inside us, and recovering a deep sense of inner safety and balance between body and mind.
My heart lies with health psychology, trauma processing and Somatic Experiencing®. The more I learn about them, the more I want to know. I work mainly with adults in individual processes, drawing on the pioneering, body-oriented Somatic Experiencing® (SE) approach, and on KIP, which uses the power of inner images and symbols to mobilise the hidden resources within us.
I like to combine the methods I work with and to tailor the process entirely to the person. I train continuously in supporting people through trauma and crisis, and in physical, emotional and social health and health promotion. I am particularly drawn to resolving early attachment trauma and shock trauma, and to trauma-sensitive yoga. In my free time I practise yoga regularly and read avidly.
I believe the body does not forget — but we can teach it new things. In my work I therefore draw on the Somatic Experiencing® approach and a body-aware perspective, to support you in regaining your inner balance.
I speak Hungarian, English and Spanish.
What can I support you in working towards?
- Resources and resilience
- Mapping the inner strength and emotional resilience already within you.
- Inner safety
- Reawakening a sense of safety at the level of the nervous system.
- Everyday effectiveness
- Developing coping, communication, decision-making and stress management.
- Difficult life situations
- Crisis support, processing grief, and coping with hard life events.
- Body and mind together
- Trauma processing, and living with chronic illness and psychosomatic symptoms.
- Relationships and self-knowledge
- Making your relationships more meaningful and deepening self-knowledge.
CV and professional background
University studies and qualifications
Specialist examination in applied health psychology (Clinical Health Psychologist)
Professional registration number: 2866
MSc in Health and Medical Psychology
BA in Psychology
Method-specific training
Somatic Experiencing® Practitioner (SEP), as a member of the first Hungarian Somatic Experiencing® cohort
Katathym Imaginative Psychotherapy (KIP)
Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP)
Autogenic Training (AT)
Professional experience
As a psychologist and helping professional I have gained experience of the connection between body and mind in many settings:
- University psychological counselling
- Supporting young adults, particularly medical students, individually and in groups, in Hungarian and in English.
- Psychological care in healthcare settings
- Experience on oncology, surgical and internal medicine wards, in general practice, and accompanying adults living with chronic illness.
- Non-profit sector
- Individual and group work at civil society organisations, and psychological support and mentoring for jobseekers.
- University teaching
- Passing on what I have learned through classes, training and continuing education for doctors, medical students and nurses.
- Volunteering
- Running camps for children living with chronic illness at the Bátor Tábor Foundation, and volunteer specialist journalism for Mindset Pszichológia.
Detailed professional experience
specialist psychologist
- individual psychological care for Hungarian and international medical students, in Hungarian and English
- individual psychological care for university staff
- individual life-guidance and support counselling within a mentoring programme
- organising health promotion programmes and groups
- teaching GP residents
- regular lectures on continuing education courses for general practitioners
- teaching on the master's programme for advanced practice nurses
- individual casework on the inpatient wards of the Oncotherapy Clinic (2021) and the Surgery Clinic (2022) as part of professional practice
psychologist
- psychological care on COVID inpatient wards
teaching medical students
- coordinator, lecturer and tutor of the Health Promotion theory and practice course
- tutor of the Health Education practical course
- creator and tutor of the English-language practical course Basics of Self-Knowledge in Professional Orientation
psychologist
- individual psychological counselling for jobseekers
- assessment (tests, interviews, questionnaires), support, and help in crisis
- mental health, self-knowledge, health-maintenance and personal development sessions
psychologist
- individual psychological counselling for jobseekers
- online psychoeducational group sessions
English language teacher
- small-group sessions in English for children aged 4–14
- consultations with parents, with recommendations on learning and behaviour
Publications
- Fischer, N. & Racs, E. (2022). Orvostanhallgatók pszichológiai ellátása. In Csabai, M., Papp-Zipernovszky, O. & Sallay, V. (Eds.), Pszichológusok a betegellátásban – alkalmazott egészségpszichológiai tanulmányok és esetismertetések (pp. 363–384). Szegedi Egyetemi Kiadó.
- Fischer, N. & Racs, E. (2022). Psychological Care for Medical Students. In Csabai, M., Papp-Zipernovszky, O. & Sallay, V. (Eds.), Clinical Health Psychology in Practice – Theory and Case Presentations (pp. 223–238). Szegedi Egyetemi Kiadó.
Conference presentations
- Racs, E. (29 September 2022). The mental health of medical students [presentation]. 25th Congress of the Hungarian Psychiatric Association – How do we build bridges? Questions, challenges and solutions in psychiatry. Budapest.
My own personal development work
- Bibliotherapy group (15 hours)
- Individual Somatic Experiencing® personal experience (15 hours)
- Individual KIP self-development therapy (100 hours)
- Group KIP and psychodrama self-development therapy (150 hours)
- Group autogenic training (AT) self-development process (30 hours)