Rendering Unconscious welcomes Stijn Vanheule back to the podcast!
Rendering Unconscious episode 388.
On this episode, Stijn discusses his new book, Why Psychosis is Not So Crazy (2024), which explores psychosis from a scholarly yet more personal, clinical perspective. Stijn contrasts this with his previous academic work on psychosis, The Subject of Psychosis: A Lacanian Perspective (2011). We delve into the stigma and societal prejudices surrounding psychosis, emphasizing the importance of understanding psychotic experiences as moments of crisis pointing towards human vulnerabilities and existential issues, rather than as chronic medical conditions. We explore problems with the DSM and medical models of diagnosis and treatment. And finally, we discuss the therapeutic value of creativity and the insights gained from cultural figures like David Lynch and Carl Gustav Jung.
Stijn Vanheule is a clinical psychologist and professor at Ghent University, Belgium. He is also a privately practicing psychoanalyst and a member of the New Lacanian School for Psychoanalysis. He is the author of The Subject of Psychosis: A Lacanian Perspective (2011), Diagnosis, the DSM: A Critical Review (2014), and Psychiatric Diagnosis Revisited: From DSM to Clinical Case Formulation (2017).
He is hosting the Lacan Today conference at Ghent University, Belgium, September 18-19 2026.
Check out previous episodes with this guest:
RU294: DEREK HOOK, CALUM NEILL & STIJN VANHEULE ON READING LACAN’S ÉCRITS
RU234: STIJN VANHEULE & DEREK HOOK – LACAN ON DEPRESSION & MELANCHOLIA
