Towards a fuller life

About me

I’m Peter Foti

I was born in Budapest in the early eighties. I was a sensitive, shy little boy who struggled with inhibitions and anxiety and found change and uncertainty very hard to bear. People who knew me saw a chatty, cheerful kid, but that adopted character was the very opposite of what I was living through inside.

As a software engineer and later a communications professional, I spent nearly 20 years building a successful career at large companies in the technology and service sectors, in roles that carried a heavy psychological load. I know the inner life of white-collar workplaces, the “emotional climate” of offices and the quiet loneliness of working from home.

Years ago, a personal tragedy and a long stretch of taking on too much at work together ended in severe burnout. Yet I was held: by the wonderful helpers around me and by an inexplicable higher power that I call grace. That crisis became the defining experience of my life. Without it, I would not be who I am today.

One day the calling broke down my door with elemental force: I was going to be a helper. Since then I have completed more than 500 hours of practical, psychology-focused training, including walk and talk therapy (the walking coach programme at Serpaház). Since autumn 2025 I have been studying on the postgraduate programme in child and youth mental health counselling at Milton Friedman University, Budapest.

For me, this work is not about applying methods. It is about attentive presence, a safe relationship and reflective companionship. From my own experience I also know what it is like to work a little differently from the people around you, and what someone needs in order to be themselves.

“Now I am reaching out my hand to you, because I believe you too can rise to where you want to be.”