Karen Horney

HUMANISTIC PSYCHOANALYSIS
• Karen Horney (born September 16, 1885)
• was a German-born American psychoanalyst who,
departing from some of the basic principles
of Sigmund Freud, suggested an environmental
and social basis for the personality and its
disorders.
• In 1932 Horney went to the United States to
become associate director of the Institute for
Psychoanalysis in Chicago
• Her refusal to adhere to strict Freudian theory
caused Horney’s expulsion from the New York
Psychoanalytic Institute in 1941, which left her
free to organize a new group, the Association for
the Advancement of Psychoanalysis
Major contributions
• Horney’s work influenced several branches of psychology.
• Maslow, for instance, credited her with founding humanistic
psychology, influencing him in his creation of the Hierarchy of
Needs (Vanacore, 2020)
• Horney’s term “basic anxiety” influenced Erik Erikson’s
idea of “basic mistrust,” which became his first stage of
psychosocial development.
• Horney’s theories on neurosis also helped to inspire the
interpersonal school of psychology and the diagnosis of neurotic
disorders in psychiatry.
Feminine psychology
One of Horney’s main contributions was her work on feminine
psychology, which challenged traditional Freudian psychology’s
view of women.
• In The Flight from Womanhood, for example, Horney (1932) noted
that the phallocentric bias of psychoanalysis stemmed from the
fact that its originators — such as Sigmund Freud — were almost
entirely male.
Horney proposed that contrary to traditional Freudian theories, girls
were aware of their genitalia before puberty and that while girls
may experience “penis envy” at a young age, this longing can also
apply to boys who want breasts or to be a mother (Horney, 1933;
Vanacore, 2020).

Penis envy, according to Horney, comes from disappointment

with the girls” father, leading to a “flight from womanhood” — the
desire not to be female.
• However, for Horney, this was not inevitable, as a girl could
overcome penis envy by identifying with her mother.
 Women versus men
• She disagreed with Freud about inherent differences in the psychology of
men and women, and she traced such differences to society and culture
rather than biology.
• Horney traced what she called the “distrust between the sexes” through
history and culture. She compared the husband-wife relationship to a
parent’s relationship with a child, one that breeds mistrust and dislike.
• Horney believed that both men and women have a drive to be ingenious and
productive. Women are able to satisfy this need normally and internally—to
do this they become pregnant and give birth. Men satisfy this need only
through external ways; Horney proposed that the striking accomplishments
of men in work or some other field can be viewed as compensation for their
inability to give birth to children.
Likewise, she noted that society as a whole simultaneously fears
and resents women in a way that forces them into a position that
makes them dependent on men.
Horney concluded that the resentment between men and women
laid not in penis envy but in men’s envy of women’s ability to
produce life: womb envy (Horney, 1967).
This highlights Horney’s most noticeable deviation from
psychoanalysis: Freud believed that women were incomplete
because they lacked a penis.
• Horney saw women as whole beings, deserving to be seen and
discussed on their own terms.
Horney’s opposing views on women caused controversy within
the world of psychoanalysis (Vanacore, 2020).
• As a result, Horney clashed with prominent psychologists at the
time, concerned with her deviation from Freud.
• Freud himself once called her “able and malicious,” saying that
female psychoanalysts, in general, were more likely to devalue
penis envy in their patients because they could not detect it in
themselves (Vanacore, 2020).
Theories of neurotic needs
Horney, also in contrast to Freud, believed that culture, rather than
instinctual drives, largely led to behavior and psychological
characteristics, especially in neurosis.
Horney recognized the role of culture in understanding neurosis;
cultures, in defining what is normal, shape and define what
neurosis is against its own norms.
• Horney created a new structure for neurosis. She believed that
neurosis stemmed from basic anxiety, which in turn stems
from family conditions that make a child feel unwanted.
Basic anxiety
Psychoanalyst Karen Horney described the concept of “basic anxiety” or “basic
conflict” in her 1945 book, Our Inner Conflicts.
She defined basic anxiety as the feelings that arise in a child from being
unloved, unvalued, or insecure.
She wrote:
[Basic anxiety] …the feeling a child has of being isolated and helpless in a
potentially hostile world. A wide range of adverse factors in the environment
can produce this insecurity in a child: direct or indirect domination,
indifference, erratic behavior, lack of respect for the child’s individual needs,
lack of real guidance, …having too much or too little responsibility, over
protection, isolation from other children, injustice, discrimination, unkept
promises, hostile atmosphere, and so on...
• Horney believed that neuroses grow out of basic conflict that
usually begins in childhood.
• As people attempt to solve this conflict, and as a way to come
with their basic anxiety they are likely to adopt
• one of the three neurotic trends: namely,
• moving toward,
• against, or
• away from others.
• Each of these tactics can produce temporary relief, but eventually
they drive the person farther away from actualizing the real self
and deeper into a neurotic spiral (Homey, 1950).
The Compliant Solution
• Try to overcome basic anxiety by gaining affection and approval
and controlling others through their dependency
• Values- goodness, sympathy, love, generosity, unselfishness,
humility
• Abhor- egotism, ambition, callousness, power
• Bargain- If they are good, loving people who shun pride and not
seek own gain or glory- will be well treated by fate and other
people
• If not honoured- conclude that they are at fault, or force to belief
in a justice that transcends human understanding
Expansive/Aggressive Solutions
Predominant goals, traits and values opposite to self-effacing
solution
values- mastery
Abhor- helplessness, ashamed of suffering, need to achieve
success, prestige, recognition
1. Narcissistic solution-
• seek to master life by self-admiration and the
exercise of charm
• They were often favored and admired children, gifted beyond
average, who grew up feeling the world to be a fostering parent
and themselves to be favorites of fortune
• Have unquestioned belief in their abilities, feel there is no game
they cannot win
• Bargain- if they hold on to their dreams and their exaggerated
claims of themselves, life is bound to give them what they want
• If not, they experience a psychological collapse
2. perfectionistic solution

• Refuge for people whit extremely high standards,

moral and intellectual
• Look down upon others
• Aim for flawless excellence in the whole conduct of life
• Tend to equate knowing about moral values with being a good
person
• Bargain- being fair, just and dutiful entitles them to fair treatment
by others and by life in general
• At risk for feelings of helplessness or self-hate
3. arrogant-vindictive solution

• Suits people who are motivated by need for

vindictive triumphs
• Harshly treated in childhood and have need to retaliate for the
injuries they have suffered
• Competitive, ruthless and cynical
• Tend to be hard and tough, feeling as a sign of weakness
Detachment
• Value- freedom, peace, self-sufficiency
• Abhor- the pursuit of wordly success and have a profound
aversion to effort
• They handle a threatening world by removing themselves from its
power and shutting others out of their inner lives
• Inorder to avoid being dependent they try to subdue their inner
cravings and to be content with little
• Bargain- if they ask nothing of others, others will not bother them;
if they try for nothing, they will not fail; if they expect little of life,
they will not be disappointed
Horney's 10 Neurotic Needs
Well-adjusted individuals use all three coping strategies (toward, away, and against others),
shifting focus depending on internal and external factors. So what is it that makes these coping
strategies neurotic?
According to Horney, it is the *overuse* of one or more of these interpersonal styles. The 10
neurotic needs that Horney described are:
The Need for Affection and Approval The Need for a Partner

Horney labeled the first need as • The second need is known as the
the neurotic need for affection neurotic need for a partner who
and approval. This need includes will take over one's life.
the desire to be liked, to please • This involves a focus on the
other people, and meet the partner.
expectations of others.
• People with this type of need are • Individuals with this need
extremely sensitive to experience an intense fear of
rejection and criticism and fear abandonment by their partner.
the anger or hostility of others. • Often, they place exaggerated
• They may behave in ways that are importance on love and believe
submissive or overly people that having a partner will solve all
pleasing as a way to avoid of life’s problems.
conflict or rejection.
The Need to Restrict One’s Life The Need for Power

• The third need centers on the • Horney described the fourth

neurotic need to restrict one's life need as a neurotic need for
within narrow borders. power.
• This often manifests as needing • People who have this need seek
to stay out of the spotlight. power for its own sake.
People with this need prefer to • They usually praise strength,
remain inconspicuous and despise weakness, and will
unnoticed. exploit or dominate other people.
• They are undemanding and • These people fear personal
content with little. They avoid limitations, helplessness, and
wishing for material things, often uncontrollable situations. They
making their needs secondary tend to dominate others and
and undervaluing their talents avoid situations where they don't
and abilities. have the upper hand.
 The Need for Prestige
The Need to Exploit Others

• People with a neurotic need to • People who seek prestige find

exploit others view other people their self-worth in public
in terms of what they can gain recognition and acclaim.
from taking advantage of them. • They tend to evaluate their
• People with this need generally material
pride themselves on their ability possessions, personality
to exploit other people. characteristics, professional
• They are often focused on accomplishments, and loved
manipulating others to obtain ones through the lens of prestige.
desired objectives, including • These individuals often fear
such things as ideas, power, public embarrassment and loss
money, or sex. of social status.
The Need for Personal Admiration
The Need for Personal Achievement

This need goes beyond a desire for This need hinges on the desire to
praise or recognition. Instead, it's all prove oneself through
about getting acclaim not just for accomplishments. People with this
what you do but who you are. need see their value as a person
only in terms of what they can
• Their self-confidence tends to be achieve.
fragile. Instead of having an inherent • people push themselves to achieve
sense of worth, their self-belief greater and greater things as a result
hinges on getting outside validation. of basic insecurity.
They want to be seen as special or • fear failure and constantly need to
accomplish more than others and
extraordinary, which is why they can top even their earlier successes.
be narcissistic and have an • Failure isn't just a temporary
exaggerated self-perception. setback. It's seen as a personal
defeat that undermines a person's
entire sense of self.
The Need for Independence The Need for Perfection

• This need reflects a strong • People with a neurotic need for

desire for self-sufficiency and perfection and unassailability
independence. strive for complete infallibility.
• These individuals often prefer • A common feature of this
to be on their own, choosing to neurotic need is searching for
create space between personal flaws to quickly
themselves and others to change or cover up these
maintain their freedom and perceived imperfections.
avoid the feeling of being tied
down or reliant on anyone else.
Basic conflict
• In each interpersonal defense, one element involved in basic
anxiety is overemphasized:
Helplessness in the compliant solution
Hostility in the aggressive solution
Isolation in the detached solution
Under pathogenic conditions, all these feelings are likely to
occur , leading individuals to make all three of the defensive
moves and giving rise to BASIC CONFLICT
Real self and Idealized self
• Real Self: the real self represents an individual’s genuine feelings,
desires, and potential. When a person’s real self is nurtured, they
can grow and develop healthily.
• Idealized Self: is a distorted version of the self that is created in
response to basic anxiety and neurotic needs. Individuals develop
an idealized image of themselves, striving to live up to unrealistic
standards, which leads to inner conflict and frustration.
• Neurosis and Alienation: Horney argued that neurosis arises
when individuals become disconnected from their real selves and
instead focus on achieving their idealized self-image.
Healthy individual
• The “healthy” individual, most simply put, is the person who moves
towards self-realization. Rather than an idealized conception, such
as that created by neurosis, the healthy conception of self is that of
reality.
The healthy individual is someone who:
1.Understands their true self.
2.Accepts responsibility.
3.Acts for themselves. the healthy individual steps up to act on their
own behalf. This is often referred to as a sense of agency in
psychodynamic thinking. That an individual has power to affect
meaningful change in their life.
APPLICATIONS
• The general goal of Horneyian therapy is to help patients gradually
grow in the direction of self-realization. More specifically, the aim
is to have patients give up their idealized self-image, relinquish
their neurotic search for glory, and change self- hatred to an
acceptance of the real self.
• Unfortunately, patients are usually convinced that their neurotic
solutions are correct, so they are reluctant to surrender their
neurotic trends.
• They tend to resist change and cling to those behaviors that
perpetuate their illness. The three neurotic trends can be cast in
favorable terms such as "love," "mastery," or "freedom." Because
patients usually see their behaviors in these positive terms, their
actions appear to them to be healthy, right, and desirable (Homey,
1942, 1950).
The Therapist's task
• is to convince patients that their present solutions are
perpetuating rather than alleviating the core neurosis
• Patients may look for quick cures or solutions, but only the long,
laborious process of self-understanding can effect positive
change. Self-understanding must go beyond information; it must
be accompanied by an emotional experience.
Contd/-
• Patients must understand their pride system, their idealized
image, their neurotic search for glory, their self-hatred, their
shoulds, their alienation from self, and their conflicts. Moreover,
they must see how all these factors are interrelated and operate to
preserve their basic neurosis.
Pride system
• Neurotic pride- pride in the attribute of the idealized self
• Neurotic claims- based on our pride we make neurotic claims on
the world, demanding to be treated in accordance with our
grandiose conception of ourselves
• Tyrannical should- the should compel us to live up to our
grandiose conception of self
• Self-hate- the rage the idealized self feels toward our actual self
for not being what it should
• Horney sees self-hate as perhaps the greatest tragedy of the
human mind- Man in reaching out for the Infinite and Absolute
also starts destroying himself
the tyranny of the shoulds
• For her, these were unrealistic demands placed – I should be
this, I should do that – on our self to become what she called
the idealized self, an image of perfection that could never be
attained.

The idealized self disables the real self and stops it from
flourishing. It also blocks the individual’s ability to realize and
use what Karen Horney called constructive forces, (our unique
strengths and endowments) to go towards what would offer a
sense of meaning and pride, a sense of aliveness.
 Importance of the patient themselves
• Although a therapist can help encourage patients toward self-
understanding, ultimately successful therapy
• is built on self-analysis (Horney, 1942, 1950).
• Patients must understand the difference between
their idealized self-image and their real self.
• Fortunately, people possess an inherent
curative force that allows them to move
inevitably in the direction of self-realization
once self-understanding and self-analysis are
achieved.
Techniques
• use many of the same ones employed by Freudian therapists
• Firstly, dream interpretation
• dreams as attempts to solve conflicts, but the solutions can be
either neurotic or healthy.
• When therapists provide a correct interpretation, patients are
helped toward a better understanding of their real self.
• free association,
• patients are asked to say everything that comes to mind
regardless of how trivial or embarrassing it may seem(Horney,
1987).
• They are also encouraged to express whatever feelings may arise
from the associations.
• It eventually reveals patients' idealized self-image and persistent
but unsuccessful attempts at accomplishing it.
When is therapy considered successful?
• patients move toward SELF-REALIZATION
and all those processes that accompany it;
• they have a deeper and clearer
understanding of their feelings, beliefs,
and wishes;
• they relate to others with genuine feelings instead of using
people to solve basic conflicts;
• at work, they take a greater interest in the job itself rather than
seeing it as a means to perpetuate a neurotic search for glory.
Central Inner conflict
• In the course of successful therapy, an intrapsychic conflict
develops between the pride system and the emerging real self.
• Living from the real self involves accepting a world of uncertainty,
process and limitation.
• It means giving up the search for glory and settling to a less-
exalted existence
• Difficult to resolve this conflict
• Insight and realization harsh
• Horney hope that patients will feel sympathetic towards
themselves during this time
Horney's concept of humanity
• was based almost entirely on her clinical experiences with
neurotic patients; therefore, her view of human personality is
strongly colored by her concept of neurosis.
• According to Horney, the prime difference between a healthy
person and a neurotic individual is the degree of compulsivity with
which each moves toward, against, or away from people.
• The compulsive nature of neurotic trends suggests that Horney's
concept of humanity is deterministic.
• However, a healthy person would have a large element of free
choice.
 optimistic than pessimistic
• Horney believed that people possess inherent curative powers
that Lead them toward self-realization.
• If basic anxiety (the feeling of being alone and help- less in a
potentially hostile world) can be avoided, people will feel safe and
secure in their interpersonal relations and consequently will
develop healthy personalities.
 causality versus teleology
• On this dimension, Horney adopted a middle position.
• She stated that the natural goal for people is self-realization, but
she also believed that childhood experiences can block that
movement.
• "The past in some way or other is always contained in the present"
(Horney, 1939, p. 153).
• Included in people's past experiences, however, is the formation
of a philosophy of Life and a set of values that give both their
present and their future some direction
conscious versus unconscious motivation
• Although Horney adopted a middle stance, she believed that most
people have only limited awareness of their motives.
• Neurotics, especially, have little understanding of themselves and
do not see that their behaviors guarantee the continuation of their
neuroses. They mislabel their personal characteristics, couching
them in socially acceptable terms, while remaining largely
unaware of their basic conflict, their self-hate, their neurotic pride
and neurotic claims, and their need for a vindictive triumph.
social influences more than biological ones
• Psychological differences between men and women, for example,
are due more to cultural and societal expectations than to
anatomy.
• To Horney, the Oedipus complex and penis envy are not inevitable
consequences of biology but rather are shaped by social forces.
• Horney did not neglect biological factors completely, but her main
emphasis was on social influences.
Influence on Contemporary and Future
Psychological Research
• Neurotic Behavior and Personality Development: Horney’s work
on neurotic needs and basic anxiety continues to influence research
on personality disorders and the development of neuroses.
• Feminist Psychology: Her work opened the door for psychologists to
explore how gender roles, social expectations, and cultural
norms shape women’s psychological experiences and contribute to
their mental health challenges.
• Interpersonal Relationships and Mental Health: Her work helped
pave the way for interpersonal therapy (IPT), which focuses on
improving relationship dynamics as a means of treating mental health
conditions such as depression and anxiety.
• Which therapeutical approach was your favourite? Why? What
made it special compared to the others?