Lélekre hangolva — Kolumbán Rita up close
„The method found me at a time when I, too, needed something to hold on to.”
About me
Dr. Kolumbán Rita
Mental-health professional and social worker · founder of the Fessünk Álmokat Mentálhigiénés Műhely.
At the heart of Dr. Kolumbán Rita's professional work lies the combination of a mental-health approach with creation-based self-reflection. For more than a decade she has worked with creation-centred self-discovery tools that help to mobilise inner resources, build emotional flexibility (resilience), and form a positive vision for the future.
As founder and leader of the Fessünk Álmokat Mentálhigiénés Műhely, she creates safe, accepting and inspiring spaces where creative expression is not about performance but about deeper self-discovery and genuine connection. The programme came to life within the Social and Community Resource Centre in Gyergyószentmiklós. Rita believes that visual expression is a universal symbolic language that helps to make visible and integrate the most important messages of our inner world.
The programme grew out of her original idea. During her master's studies in mental health, on an Erasmus course in Spain, she encountered the Mural Moral method, in which community themes were explored and painted onto outdoor walls. It occurred to her that not only community but also personal themes could be worked through this way — over the years she combined the Mural Moral method with the mental-health methods she had learned, and the programme took shape from this.
Since 2016, the dreams, longings and thoughts of six different age groups — young schoolchildren, adolescents, young adults, families, the elderly and people with mobility impairments — have appeared on the wall of an alley in Gyergyószentmiklós. Over nearly ten years, many murals, self-discovery group sessions and workshops have come together.
The approach
"Painting and creating are an important part of the process, but not its ultimate goal. The goal is the message itself!" — self-care, reflection and going deeper into a given theme. The process of creation matters at least as much as the result.
Colleagues and contributors
Over the past years we have worked together with many respected professionals in carrying out our mental-health and community-development programmes.
- Dr. Berszán Lídia – associate professor, lecturer at the Hungarian Institute of Sociology and Social Work of Babeș–Bolyai University; professional mentor of several of our programmes.
- Dr. Dániel Botond – assistant professor, lecturer at the Hungarian Institute of Sociology and Social Work of Babeș–Bolyai University; a key contributor to the creation and professional grounding of the Fessünk Álmokat programme.
- Tankó-Molnár – school counsellor and educator; a professional collaborator on our mental-health programmes.
- Portik Noémi-Klarissza nővér – a member of the Franciscan sisters' community in Mallersdorf. One of the originators of the "Alkotás L/lélekre hangolva" programme.
- Katona Krisztina – the developer of the Mural Moral method, from whom we learned mural painting as a community-building method.
Professional background
Where theory and practice meet.
She builds her practical work on solid theoretical and research foundations.
- Doctorate in sociology (PhD)
- Babeș–Bolyai University — research field: activities that support mental health within the social-care system.
- Mental-health and pastoral counsellor (MA)
- Two master's degrees underpinning the theoretical and practical foundations of the helping profession.
- Theology and Social Work (BA)
- Faculty of Roman Catholic Theology and Faculty of Social Work, Babeș–Bolyai University
- Accredited adult-education trainer
- Regular group facilitation and sharing of experience at professional forums.
- Research scholarships
- Collegium Talentum · Soós Kálmán · Márton Áron research programmes.
In her community-building and helping work, community art and the methodology of mural painting (wall-painting) play a prominent role, whose positive effects she has also published in professional articles and studies. Academic publications
Volumes
Published and forthcoming books.
Her books faithfully reflect both her practical and theoretical outlook and her creative inner work.
Interviews
Conversations about the programme.
A few interviews in which she spoke about the Fessünk Álmokat programme and the approach behind it.
Creating reveals more than "thanks, fine, and you?"
„It may look as though we're just sitting and smudging away, but once we start talking about these pieces, much more comes to light about what we think or feel.”
They paint their dreams onto the walls of buildings in Transylvania
„Everyone first began with their own individual dreams, drawing them, and then continued in small groups — and that is how the big, shared picture came together.”
Recoloured memories
„The emphasis is not on the beauty or artistic perfection of the pictures, but on the process of creation itself.”
Contact