Children and adolescents with emotional and behavioural problems, anxiety, school and family difficulties, mood disorders - these are the areas where Dr Orsolya Rideg, a child and adolescent psychiatrist, helps; in her practice, prescribing psychiatric medication is ‘not the first step’.

She graduated from Semmelweis University of Medicine in 2002, and qualified in infant and paediatric medicine in 2007. She has worked in hospital departments and specialist clinics in Budapest and in the countryside. Her interest turned to the psychological aspect of diseases, as she increasingly encountered medical conditions where traditional physical examinations and drug therapies were not effective. She continued her studies in child psychiatry and in 2014 she qualified in child and adolescent psychiatry. In addition to working in the psychiatric department, she was also trained in the field of child psychotherapy.

Main areas of expertise are

• emotional and behavioural problems of children and adolescents
• kindergarten, school, peer groups and family difficulties
• anxiety, mood disorders

‘After six years of working in a child psychiatry department, I started working in child protection, in a national expert committee for child protection, in children's homes. I also incorporate my wide experience in this field into my psychiatric work.

I have completed the integrated parent-infant consultant training and I expect to take my related final exam in 2024. I feel it is important to work with mothers/parent couples and their babies, since there is a lot of preventive work that can be done in this early period.

Psychosomatic thinking, developmental psychology and a therapeutic approach are close to me. Of course, I use medication therapy, when necessary, but the first step is not necessarily this, but a thorough, systematic review of the symptom or problem and - if possible - the use of psychotherapy or personalised development.’