The Society for Mental Space Psychology (SOMSP) is a global network of social scientists, psychotherapists, and coaches united by a shared vision: that consciousness is a subjective phenomenon unfolding in the multidimensional space surrounding the brain. For many, this paradigm fundamentally transforms how psychological problems are understood and treated — a view backed by over 30 years of clinical experience and research.
SOMSP exists at the intersection of practical psychotherapy and psychological research. It grew from the International Laboratory for Mental Space Research (ILMSR), founded in 1998 when Walker (Germany), Oetsch (Austria), and Derks (the Netherlands) discovered their shared interest in the role of space within applied social science. Twenty-seven pioneering and exciting ILMSR meetings followed, and from the desire to continue that research and open this work to a wider community, the Society for Mental Space Psychology was born.
SOMSP members recognise the remarkable potential of spatial methods in psychotherapy — and, beyond the desire to bring a wider audience to this paradigm, they continue to work towards a stronger theoretical psychological foundation to explain what so often feels to clients and clinicians, like something close to miraculous.
Mental Space Psychology now comes as robust hardcover, paperback and ebook. Lucas Derks’ book Mental Space Psychology has been available since 2018 in a blue paperback. With the image of “The Marsian Antropologist” on the cover. Now there is a more solid edition, suited for libraries and people that want to teach from it. Available
Podcast from Academia Edu about Alexandru Manea’s interview-article with Lucas Derks made in The HardRock Café in Bucharest in 2014. It is a nice and to-the-point audio that may clarify many things in an efficient way.
Educational institutions worldwide are teaching Mental Space Psychology in their own time frame and focusing on the content of their choice. We may expect that some standard programs will find shape soon. Only the 5-day “Social Panorama Consultant” program has been the standard since about 2004. Marja-Leena Savimäki in Finland, Jacques Lacroix in Spain, and
