Existential Dialogue 2026: "Psychoanalysis" with Dr. Michael Guy Thompson

Existential Dialogues 2026: "A Chorus of Voices"

Topic: "Psychoanalysis" between Prof. Ernesto Spinelli and Dr. Michael Guy Thompson.

“What is the relationship between existential philosophy and psychoanalysis? For many existential therapists, the term “existential psychoanalysis” is an oxymoron. They argue that the two are inherently incompatible. This is especially the case if the psychoanalytic school that is being integrated with existentialism is that of Sigmund Freud. I want to argue that this is not true, and moreover, that I perceive Sigmund Freud as the first existential psychoanalyst! My training in existential psychoanalysis was with R. D. Laing and his colleagues at the Philadelphia Association in London during the 1970s. After leaving London and returning to California I founded Free Association, Inc. in San Francisco, a school that was devoted to training existential psychoanalysts. I subsequently began publishing books that were devoted to integrating existential philosophy with the teachings of Sigmund Freud. Laing, Winnicott, and Bion were instrumental in my efforts to realize this integration, rooted primarily in the thinking of Sartre, Nietzsche, and Heidegger. What makes Freud an existentialist? That love and our fear of intimacy lie at the heart of the human condition, and that virtually all forms of mental and emotional anguish derive from a broken heart. What could possibly be more existential than that?” .

Michael Guy Thompson, PhD, received his psychoanalytic training from R. D. Laing and associates at the Philadelphia Association in London, and served as the organization’s administrator from 1973–1980. He is Personal and Supervising Analyst and Faculty Member, Psychoanalytic Institute of Northern California, San Francisco, and former Adjunct Professor at the California School of Professional Psychology, San Francisco, and the California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco. He is the author of over 100 journal articles, book chapters, and reviews, as well as numerous books, including The Death of Desire: A Study in Psychopathology (1985), The Truth About Freud’s Technique (1994), The Ethic of Honesty (2004), The Death of Desire: An Existential Study in Sanity and Madness (2017, 2nd edition), Essays in Existential Psychoanalysis: On the Primacy of Authenticity (2024), Existential Psychoanalysis: A Contemporary Introduction (2025), and most recently, R. D. Laing in the Twenty-First Century: Sanity, Therapy, Love (2025; with Fritjof Capra and Douglas Kirsner). Most recently, Dr. Thompson is founder and director of New School for Existential Psychoanalysis, a certificate-based virtual training program modeled on his work with R. D. Laing in London, based in San Francisco. He founded Free Association, Inc. in 1988 in San Francisco to further the legacy of R. D. Laing, and inaugurated the annual R. D. LAING IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY symposium at Esalen Institute in 2015, to further the legacy and relevance of Laing’s contribution to contemporary psychiatry and psychotherapy. He lives in Berkeley, California. www.mguythompson.com

Recommended readings for “Psychoanalysis”:

Thompson, M. Guy (1994) The Truth About Freud’s Technique: The Encounter With The Real. New York and London: NYU Press.

Thompson, M. Guy (2024) Essays in Existential Psychoanalysis: On the Primacy of Authenticity. London and New York: Routledge.

Thompson, M. Guy (2025) Existential Psychoanalysis: A Contemporary Introduction. London and New York: Routledge.

Visit our website to see the Full Programme.