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LOTILKO VARÁZSDOBOZ

Time: Thursday 15:30–17:00.

Ages 9–12, Lotilko Programme.

Detailed professional description

With school-age children, we open the 'Magic Box', which holds many secrets, stories and treasures. During the sessions we move through the worlds of stories, play and creative work. The group aims to support children with child and adolescent psychiatric difficulties in developing social skills, relationships, patterns of connection, self-esteem and personality functioning.

Format: therapeutically heterogeneous group in both age and presenting difficulties.

Focus: child and adolescent psychiatric difficulties, including psychosomatic symptoms without an identified organic cause, autism spectrum conditions, mood disorders, difficulties in personality development, eating disorders, attention and behavioural difficulties, and other anxiety disorders where long-term containing therapeutic support is needed to stabilise the child's condition.

For these children, recovery often requires giving external form to pain and distressing emotions so that they can be looked at, spoken about and shared. Visual artwork can often express unusual or frightening experiences more effectively than words. Verbalising, interpreting and mentalising what has been represented visually deepens the therapeutic work.

Who the group is for: children with a child or adolescent psychiatric diagnosis, those considered at psychiatric risk, or children with psychosomatic difficulties. This may include depression, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, behavioural difficulties, chronic headaches or abdominal pain, tics, somatisation and obsessive-compulsive difficulties, as well as secondary difficulties associated with autism or ADHD where specific developmental support or therapy is also in place.

Aim: to support age-appropriate emotional regulation and strengthen social skills.

Methods: the group primarily uses child psychodrama, which supports children's capacity for self-healing, the development of new and more mature roles, and more joyful and reciprocal ways of relating to others. Art-therapy tools are also used. Both methods support symbolic thinking and therefore the development of mentalisation, which is central in the treatment of many child psychiatric difficulties. Play, movement and creative activity help connect verbal and non-verbal experience and can make deeper, lasting change possible. The containing atmosphere of the group can offer an important corrective experience for anxious, socially marginalised or less easily adapting young people.

The group is part of the Lotilko Programme, enabling treatment to address both individual and family-level needs. At this age, active parental involvement and work with family processes are particularly important in preventing difficulties from becoming chronic.

Frequency: once a week in a slow-open group format. If the group reaches a stable size at the beginning, it may operate as a closed group for the remainder of the programme.

Group leaders: Júlia Veres – clinical child and adolescent psychologist and child psychodrama practitioner; Fruzsina Gellért – clinical child and adolescent psychologist and child psychodrama practitioner.

Group size: minimum 5, maximum 8 participants.

Age group: 9–12 years. Participation is available only through the Lotilko Programme. Enquiries: lotilkoadmin@murmo.hu.

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FALKA – Dog-Assisted Social Skills Group

Times: Tuesday 14:30–15:45 for older preschool children; Tuesday 16:00–17:15 for primary-school children.

A dog-assisted therapeutic social skills development group.

Detailed professional description

FALKA is a dog-assisted therapeutic group offering experiential support to neurodivergent children who may experience anxiety, adjustment difficulties, challenges with emotional or behavioural regulation, and difficulties in social communication.

The children and their families are supported from several perspectives. The dog-assisted group is a distinctive experiential part of this work, with a particular focus on emotional and behavioural regulation, social skills and communication. The dogs' presence and shared activities create a motivating and safe environment in which children can try out and learn new positive patterns of behaviour. Working with the dog can also help direct and sustain attention, develop problem-solving skills and strengthen self-regulation.

Dog-assisted therapy also offers distinctive opportunities for working with sensory-processing difficulties. A dog provides a wide range of sensory stimuli that may at times be intense for a neurodivergent child, yet the dog's natural presence can create a bridge between a stimulus-rich environment and the child's internal processes. The presence of animals can encourage children to explore and process unfamiliar sensory experiences without experiencing them as threatening.

Methodology: animal-assisted therapeutic techniques are integrated with emotion-focused, behavioural, play-therapy, dramatic and story-based elements to support children in coping with difficult emotions.

How the group works:

  • Weekly dog-assisted therapeutic sessions.
  • 75-minute sessions.
  • Parent consultation and an initial interview take place before participation in order to assess suitability and group fit.
  • Maximum group size: 6 participants per group.

Group leaders: Réka Isépy – clinical psychologist; Johanna Bagdi – dog handler; and Gizi, the therapy dog.

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LOTILKO KILÁTÓ

Time: Monday 17:30–19:00.

Ages 17–18, Lotilko Programme.

Detailed professional description

The group builds on the healthy and resilient parts of the personality and provides an accepting, containing peer environment. Experiences arising through creative work support participants' development and help them perceive and understand more accurately the relationship between their inner world and the world around them. At the level of metaphor, we explore what a lookout point might mean for each person: how one gets there, whether there is a path, what it is like to look around, to feel dizzy or free, to make decisions, and to choose a direction or a goal.

Format: a therapeutically heterogeneous group in both age and presenting difficulties.

Focus: child and adolescent psychiatric difficulties, including psychosomatic symptoms without an identified organic cause, autism spectrum conditions, mood disorders, difficulties in personality development, eating disorders, attention and behavioural difficulties, and other anxiety disorders, including young people recently discharged from inpatient child psychiatric care who need stable, long-term therapeutic support.

For these young people, therapeutic progress often requires giving external form to pain and distressing emotions so that they can be faced, spoken about and shared. Visual artworks can often convey unusual or frightening experiences more effectively than words. Verbalising, interpreting and mentalising what has been represented makes the psychological work more complete.

Methodology: complex visual art therapy with a psychotherapeutic focus.

Frequency: once a week in a slow-open group format. If the group reaches a stable size at the beginning, it may remain closed for the remainder of the programme.

Group leaders: Kata Nagy – clinical and mental-health child and adolescent psychologist, introductory-level autogenic training practitioner, active analytic therapist and integrative child therapist in training; Fruzsina Marsalkó – art therapist and art educator.

Group size: minimum 5, maximum 8 participants.

Age group: 17–18 years. Participation is available only through the Lotilko Programme. Enquiries: lotilkoadmin@murmo.hu.

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LOTILKO GRUND

Time: Thursday 17:00–18:30.

Ages 15–16, Lotilko Programme.

Detailed professional description

During the transition through adolescence, we think together about change, rules and boundaries, freedom, bodily experience, our emotional world and our experiences in groups and communities.

Format: a therapeutically heterogeneous group in both age and presenting difficulties.

Focus: child and adolescent psychiatric difficulties. The group may support young people with psychosomatic symptoms without an identified organic cause, autism spectrum conditions, mood disorders, difficulties in personality development, eating disorders, attention and behavioural difficulties, and other anxiety disorders, including those who have recently left inpatient child psychiatric care and need stable, long-term therapeutic support.

For these young people, therapeutic progress often requires giving external form to pain and distressing emotions so that these experiences can be faced, spoken about and shared. Visual artwork can often represent unusual or frightening internal experiences more effectively than verbal communication. Verbalising, interpreting and mentalising what has been created deepens the psychological work.

Methodology: an integrative approach combining music therapy and visual art therapy within a complex treatment system.

Frequency: once a week in a slow-open group format. If a stable group is formed at the outset, it may remain closed until the end of the programme.

Group leaders: Erika Pap and Petra Kovács.

Group size: minimum 6, maximum 8 participants.

Age group: 15–16 years. Participation is available only through the Lotilko Programme. Enquiries: lotilkoadmin@murmo.hu.

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NAGYKONNEKT

Time: Thursday 15:00–16:30 (90 minutes).

An art psychotherapy group for secondary-school students aged 14–18 with neurodevelopmental differences (ASD, ADHD). The group supports a deeper understanding of one's own way of functioning and a stronger positive identity, safe peer relationships, development of mentalization, awareness of personal resources, increasing independence and adaptive coping strategies. A particular aim is to prevent social anxiety and secondary emotional difficulties and to support flexible adaptation to the challenges of secondary school and adolescence.

Detailed professional description

Format: therapeutic group.

Focus: lack of peer relationships, adjustment and communication difficulties, challenges with mentalisation, low self-esteem, anxiety, school conflicts including bullying, questions of identity in relation to diagnosis, separation from parents, increasing independence, uncertainty about the future, inflexibility and compulsive patterns.

Methodology: the group combines Mentalization-Based Treatment for Adolescents (MBT-A), cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and complex art-therapy methods while following professional guidance relevant to autism spectrum conditions. The therapeutic framework supports appropriate emotional expression and a better understanding of behavioural and relationship patterns.

Our aim is for the strengthening and positive experiences gained in the safe environment of the therapeutic group to help members function more independently and flexibly in everyday situations appropriate to their age. As a transfer effect, the work also aims to strengthen motivation and self-confidence. The group is co-led by a clinical psychologist and a complex art therapist.

The therapeutic process is based on continuous active participation, shared experiences, connection and feedback within the group. As in individual therapy, regular weekly attendance is therefore essential to achieving a therapeutic effect.

Intensive parental guidance is also part of the programme throughout the school year. Approximately every ten group sessions, consultations are held with parents and the young person. These meetings provide an opportunity to think together about the young person's development and about changes in the difficulties discussed at the initial consultation, taking into account experiences at home, in educational settings and among peers. Our experience is that, within the slow weekly rhythm of the group, meaningful change often becomes visible by the end of the school year.

Parents undertake to complete any additional assessments recommended by the group leaders in order to support the effectiveness of therapy. Therapists undertake to indicate when they consider further diagnostic or therapeutic interventions necessary.

Frequency: once a week, two therapeutic hours (2 × 45 minutes = 90 minutes), in a slow-open group format.

Group leaders: Erika Pap – clinical psychologist, symbol therapist and MBT-A therapist; Petra Kovács – complex art therapist and music therapist.

Maximum group size: 8 participants.

Age group: 14–18 years.

The therapeutic work is supported by regular child-psychiatric supervision within Murmo's multidisciplinary professional team.

The work of Murmo's therapeutic groups is supported throughout the year by volunteers from the Pro Juventa Foundation. Our volunteers are psychologists, special educational needs professionals and art therapists in training.

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PUMA

Time: Wednesday 17:00–17:50.

A complex art therapy group for children aged 10–12 with neurodevelopmental differences (ASD, ADHD), including associated challenges in emotional expression and regulation, social connection, executive functions and increasing independence at school, as well as heightened sensitivity to stress or uncertainty in self-esteem. The group supports the development of self-awareness, self-reflection, age-appropriate independence and social relationships.

Detailed professional description

The PUMA group is a small-group therapeutic programme integrating visual art therapy, music therapy and play-therapy elements.

Age group: children aged 10–12.

Focus: impulse-control difficulties, performance anxiety, adjustment difficulties, attention problems, distractibility, low self-confidence, withdrawal, sleep and eating difficulties, problematic digital-device use, family crisis and trauma.

Methodology: integrated use of visual art, music and play-therapy elements. In a safe, experience-based art-therapy setting, we support self-expression, emotional regulation and the development of adaptive coping strategies.

How the group works:

  • Therapeutic group running weekly throughout the school year.
  • 50-minute thematic sessions tailored to the children's developmental and emotional needs.
  • Slow-open group, minimum 4 and maximum 6 participants.
  • Five parent consultations per school year.
  • Regular attendance and completion of any recommended further assessments are required.

Group leader: Petra Kovács – complex art therapist, music therapist and RGM Master Therapist.

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NAGYMACSKA

Time: Wednesday 15:45–16:35.

A complex art therapy group for children aged 9–10 with neurodevelopmental differences (ASD, ADHD), including associated challenges involving executive functions, social connection and school adjustment, performance anxiety, somatic complaints or uncertainty in self-esteem. The group supports emotional expression, social connection and a sense of competence.

Detailed professional description

The NAGYMACSKA group is a small-group therapeutic programme integrating visual art therapy, music therapy and play-therapy elements.

Age group: children aged 9–10.

Focus: impulse-control difficulties, performance anxiety, adjustment difficulties, attention problems, distractibility, low self-confidence, withdrawal, sleep and eating difficulties, problematic digital-device use, family crisis and trauma.

Methodology: integrated use of visual art, music and play-therapy elements. In a safe, experience-based art-therapy setting, we support self-expression, emotional regulation and the development of adaptive coping strategies.

How the group works:

  • Therapeutic group running weekly throughout the school year.
  • 50-minute thematic sessions tailored to the children's developmental and emotional needs.
  • Slow-open group, minimum 6 and maximum 8 participants.
  • Five parent consultations per school year.
  • Regular attendance and completion of any recommended further assessments are required.

Group leader: Petra Kovács – complex art therapist, music therapist and RGM Master Therapist.

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KISMACSKA

Time: Wednesday 14:30–15:20.

A complex art therapy group for children aged 6–8 with neurodevelopmental differences (ASD, ADHD), including associated challenges in emotion regulation, impulse control, sensory processing and school adjustment. During the transition from preschool to school, the group focuses on supporting emotional expression, social safety and self-regulation.

Detailed professional description

The KISMACSKA group is a small-group therapeutic programme for younger primary-school children integrating visual art therapy, music therapy and play-therapy tools.

Age group: children aged 6–8.

Focus: impulse-control difficulties, anxiety, social inhibition, aggressive behaviour, family crisis, trauma, eating and sleep difficulties.

Methodology: an integrated combination of visual art, music and play-therapy elements. Stories, imagination, movement, musical improvisation and complex art-therapy tools are used to support emotional processing, self-expression and the development of social and communication skills.

How the group works:

  • Therapeutic group running weekly throughout the school year.
  • 50-minute thematic sessions tailored to the children's developmental and emotional needs.
  • Slow-open group, minimum 5 and maximum 8 participants.
  • Five parent consultations per school year.
  • Regular attendance and completion of any necessary assessments are essential for effective therapeutic work.

Group leader: Petra Kovács – complex art therapist, music therapist and RGM Master Therapist.

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RGM – Rhythm–Thinking–Movement

Time: Wednesday 11:30–12:50.

A neurologic music therapy group for adults with a rehabilitation focus, supporting memory, attention, balance, coordination and concentration, including after stroke and traumatic brain injury and in Parkinson’s disease or hearing loss.

Detailed professional description

We welcome adults who would like to improve or maintain their quality of life by developing the following areas:

  • attention, concentration and memory;
  • balance, coordination and spatial orientation;
  • organisation and integration of movement;
  • divided attention and carrying out parallel tasks;
  • planning, organisation and sequential task performance;
  • flexibility of routines and situational awareness;
  • speed of task performance.

Therapeutic sessions use the Ronnie Gardiner Method (RGM) with both rehabilitation and prevention goals. Participants learn specific choreographies performed to music, designed to develop motor and cognitive abilities, memory and concentration. Music and rhythm also support motivation and sustained co-operation throughout the therapeutic work.

Practising RGM choreographies is an enjoyable and engaging challenge. The exercises train areas and connections within the nervous system that are also important in complex everyday tasks. Perceiving and processing stimuli, planning and organising movement, carrying out actions and synchronising them all support more balanced nervous-system functioning and can contribute to more flexible and successful problem-solving in daily life.

The movements are not physically strenuous. The exercises activate the nervous system as a whole and can have an energising effect. Safe performance of the exercises is discussed with each participant according to individual needs.

Session length: 80 minutes.

Participants can attend in comfortable everyday clothing.

Group leader: Petra Kovács – RGM trainer and Master Therapist.

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NAGYIZENE – Music Therapy Group for Adults

Time: Wednesday 09:30–11:00.

An adult music therapy group supporting attention and executive functions through a peer community, creative music activities and the joy of making music together.

Detailed professional description

Format: preventive and recreational group.

Focus: maintaining memory functioning, movement coordination and balance, attention and executive functions, and nervous-system flexibility.

Methodology: maintaining cognitive, motor and social skills through music therapy.

NAGYIZENE is both a creative hobby and a welcoming small community where group members can experience the enjoyment of making music together week after week. We revisit and 'dust off' favourite songs from childhood while adding new pieces to the repertoire. Participants also learn creative musical games that can be used at home with children and grandchildren — on a rainy day, while entertaining a grandchild who is recovering from illness, or when cousins gather at their grandparents' home.

At the same time, we enjoy the positive physiological effects of music on circulation, the nervous system, flexibility of movement, coordination, memory and concentration.

Petra Kovács has led the group since 2014. Participants include both active and retired grandparents who enjoy singing and making music for themselves and with grandchildren who may live nearby or further away.

No previous musical training is required, although prior experience is equally welcome. Through shared practice, everyone can participate and develop from their own starting point.

Frequency: once a week in a slow-open group format.

Group leader: Petra Kovács – complex art therapist, music therapist and RGM Master Therapist.

Group size: minimum 6, maximum 12 participants.

Age group: 60+.

New grandparents interested in joining the group are welcome on an ongoing basis.