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Saskia De Maat

Adjunct Professor of Organisational Behaviour

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Biography

Saskia de Maat is adjunct professor of Organizational Behaviour at INSEAD and is a trained psychoanalyst, organizational consultant, and scholar. She has been involved with the Executive Master of Change (EMC) programme at INSEAD for several years, contributing as a practicum supervisor, coach, and lecturer. As of September 2022, she stepped into the role as Programme Director of EMC where she integrates her knowledge of and experience in organizational, academic, and clinical fields.

After having studied Communications and Marketing, Saskia started her career in corporate life with Akzo Nobel, working for more than 12 years in various roles (mainly in marketing in the Coatings Division). Here, she developed a deep understanding of organizational and leadership challenges and processes.
Saskia left corporate life for her passion of psychology and trained as a licenced psychotherapist and psychoanalyst, working for almost 10 years with the Dutch Psychoanalytic Institute in Amsterdam. Next to her clinical practice, she also set up her own consulting and coaching practice, where she works within executives, non-executives and professional leaders and their teams and boards from a system psychodynamic perspective.

Appreciating and being challenged by academic thinking and research, Saskia always combined her clinical work with research activities. She was part of a research group in her clinic and obtained a PhD in clinical psychology (2007) with her dissertation The effectiveness of psychoanalytic therapy, short if possible, long if necessary, studying the effectiveness of psychodynamic therapies. She published in various international journals such as the Harvard Review of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy research, Depression and Anxiety and BMC Psychiatry.

Her research interests have shifted towards the field of applied psychodynamic thinking in leadership and organizations and recent research includes the question of the impact of unconscious phantasy structures on leadership behaviour. Together with Erik van de Loo, she presented research on unconscious phantasy patterns in young Russian leaders at the 2021 EGOS conference (Unconscious phantasies driving leaders and boards, a tentative exploration of unconscious phantasy patterns driving leaders) and the 2021 ISPSO Conference (Metaphors of Success, An object relational exploration of inner walls and doors in young Russian leaders).

Saskia has a broad teaching experience. She worked as faculty with the VU University in Amsterdam and with the RINO Amsterdam Psychotherapy Training Programme. She was a lecturer at the Centre for Executive Coaching of the VU University in Amsterdam, teaching senior business leaders and HR professionals and executive coaches. She worked for leadership programmes in the Netherlands and developed her own masterclasses on psychodynamic theory and practice and topics for executive coaches, HR professionals and clinical professionals.

In the Netherlands Saskia is working as an executive coach and consultant with (non) executives and their teams and boards. She co-conducts a programme designed for non-executives to develop their leadership in context. She gives role consultations and consults on change, leadership, and personal development. Saskia has clients stemming from a broad range of sectors including the financial sector, law firms, health care, construction companies, consultancy, universities, higher education institutes, IT, large corporates, packaging industry, and public and not for profit organisations.

Saskia is member of the International Psychoanalytic Association (IPA), the Dutch Psychoanalytic Association (NPaV), the International Society for Psychoanalytic Studies of Organisations (ISPSO) and of the European Group of Organisational Studies (EGOS).