Mattias Desmet: Mass Formation

David's guest this month is Mattias Desmet who is a professor of clinical psychology in the Department of Psychology and Educational Sciences at Ghent University (Belgium) and a practicing psychoanalytic psychotherapist. He is the author of The Psychology of Totalitarianism explaining the nature of mass formation. His work has been discussed widely in the media, and his interviews have been viewed by millions of people around the world. His previous books include The Pursuit of Objectivity in Psychology and Lacan’s Logic of Subjectivity: A Walk on the Graph of Desire. Desmet is the author of over one hundred peer-reviewed academic papers. In 2018 he received the Evidence-Based Psychoanalytic Case Study Prize of the Association for Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy, and in 2019 he received the Wim Trijsburg Prize of the Dutch Association of Psychotherapy.

Imaginal Inspirations is hosted by David Lorimer, Programme Director of the Scientific and Medical Network and Chair of the Galileo Commission, an academic movement dedicated to expanding the evidence base of a science of consciousness. Imaginal cells are responsible for the metamorphosis of the caterpillar into a butterfly, which is the Greek symbol for the soul. These cells are dormant in the caterpillar but at a critical point of development they create the new form and structure which becomes the butterfly.

scientificandmedical.net

galileocommission.org

beyondthebrain.org

Works and links mentioned:

https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-psychopathology-of-everyday-life-sigmund-freud/567640?ean=9781609420192

https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/lacan/

https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-psychology-of-totalitarianism-mattias-desmet/6808436?ean=9781645022756

https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/beyond-good-and-evil-friedrich-nietzsche/541688?ean=9781513266732

https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-origins-of-totalitarianism-hannah-arendt/1266259?ean=9780241316757

https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/a-new-science-of-life-rupert-sheldrake/922041?ean=9781848310421

Production: Martin Redfern

Artwork: Amber Haas

Music: Life is a River, by Magnus Moone