Saskia de Maat, Dutch, has been working with the Executive Master of Change (EMC )programme at INSEAD for several years, contributing as an practicum supervisor, coach and lecturer. As of September 2022 she will step into the role as Programme Director and adjunct professor, integrating her knowledge of and experience in organizational, academic and clinical fields.  

Having started her career in corporate life, working for more than 12 years in various roles with Akzo Nobel, she developed a deep understanding of organizational and leadership challenges and processes.  Saskia left corporate life for her passion of psychology and obtained a Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology and subsequently became a licenced psychotherapist and psychoanalyst working for many years at the Dutch Psychoanalytic Institute in Amsterdam, next to setting 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 working, Saskia always combined  clinical work with research activities. She was part of a research group in her clinic and obtained a PhD in clinical psychology, studying the effectiveness of psychodynamic therapies. She also taught research courses at post graduate Psychotherapy Training Programmes. Her research interests are currently shifting 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. 

Saskia has a broad teaching and supervision experience. She worked as faculty with the VU University and Psychotherapy Training Programmes. For several years she was a lecturer at the Centre for Executive Coaching of the VU University of 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, practice and topics for executive coaches, HR professionals and clinical professionals. For many years Saskia supervised training psychotherapists and psychiatrists as well as executive coaches, both individual and in group settings, 

In the Netherlands Saskia is a fellow with consultancy firm Phyleon, working with (non) executives and their teams and boards. She co-conducts the Phyleon programme Boardwerk is Mensenwerk, helping non-executives develop their leadership in context. She gives role consultations and consults on change, leadership and personal development. Saskia has worked with 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).