Karen Horney
Neo-Freudian View
Accomplishments on Self-Realization
About Horney
• When she was very young, she had a crush
on her older brother, he soon pushed her
away. This would be the start of her
depression.
• She entered medical school against her
parent's wishes and graduated in 1913.
• Later Karen decided to enter into the pursuit
of psychoanalysis.
• Oskar Horney, her husband, was a very mean
aggressive man, Horney finally built up the
courage just as her mom did when she was a
kid to move away from her horrible
husband.
• Soon after Karen's brother died. These
events made Horney enter into a second
state of depression.
Neurotic
Individuals
• Neurosis is a mental
disorder in which
emotional stress is
expressed through physiological, and mental
disturbances.
• They may experience: anxiety, depression, anger,
irritability, mental confusion, low sense of selfworth, unpleasant or disturbing thoughts,
negativity, or perfectionism.
Self-Realization
• According to Horney we have two views of
our self:
• The real self; is who and what we actually
are, this self has the potential to grow.
• The ideal self; the type of person we feel
that we should be, a role model to the real
self.
• A person who does not suffer from neurosis
knows the differences between the real and
ideal self.
• A neurotic person's self is split between an
idealized self and a real self. They feel that
they somehow do not live up to the ideal
self. Therefor making themselves feel
useless because they aren't the best they
can be.
Neurosis
• She compiled a detailed theory of neurosis, with data from her patients.
She named ten patterns of neurotic needs;
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The need for affection; pleasing others.
The need for a partner; one they can love and who will solve all problems.
The need for power; the neurotic may be desperate for it.
The need to exploit others; become manipulative.
The need for social recognition; limelight.
The need for personal admiration; to be valued.
The need for personal achievement.
The need for independence; may discard other individuals entirely.
The need for perfection; display a fear of being even slightly flawed.
The need to restrict life practices; to live as unnoticeable as possible.
• Horney was able to condense them into three
broad categories:
Compliance, Aggression, Detachment
Neo-Freudianism
• Sigmund Freud had many
controversial theories, the term
Neo-Freudian referred any other
psychoanalysis's thoughts on his
theories.
• Horney refused to believe that
woman had ‘penis envy’. She
instead insisted on men having
‘womb envy’ and the only reason
they were driven to success was to
make up for the fact that they
could not carry a child.
Freud's Response
• “We shall not be very
greatly surprised if a
woman analyst who
has not been
sufficiently convinced
of the intensity of her
own wish for a penis”
(off book)
How She Changed
Psychology
• The Karen Horney Clinic opened
on May 6, 1955 in New York City,
The institution seeks to research
and train medical professionals,
as well as a low-cost treatment center
• She also was a major part of the feminine
revolution, proving that woman are not inferior
and that we do not have ‘Penis envy’