Honoring + Celebrating Women's History - Karen Horney
In honor of Women’s History month, I’d like to bring attention to Karen Horney, who was a pioneer in the field of psychology. Horney was a neo-Freudian therapist who focused her areas of study on neurotic needs, debunking Freud’s penis envy postulate, and feminine psychology. Karen Horney distinguished herself as an advocate for female psychiatry during an era when seeking psychological help (as a man or a woman) was taboo. She also made important contributions to self-psychology and emphasized the importance of self-analysis and self-help in mental health.
Who Was Karen Horney?
Karen Horney was born in Germany in 1885, and lived with her mother, father, and brother. Karen was depressed early in life in that she was raised by a strict, authoritarian father. She was also deeply impacted by the death of both her mother and brother. She was just 26 years old. Horney then went to medical school where she met her future husband. They met in 1906 and were married by 1909.
Following the passing of her mother and brother, Horney plummeted into depression. She completed school and began seriously studying psychology. In 1926 she left her husband and just a few years later in 1932, Karen Horney moved to the United States with her three daughters. Once Horney was in the U.S. she continued to study psychology and became friends and colleagues with the highly esteemed intellectuals of the time.
Karen Horney and Women’s Psychology
Karen Horney’s contributions to psychology and specifically the study of psychology for women still ring true today. Horney developed a theory of neuroses that viewed neurotic tendencies as protective and as a means of coping versus a matter of disorder and disease. She identified ten neuroses, including the need for power, the need for affection, the need for social prestige, and the need for independence.
Karen Horney described neurosis as "psychic disturbances brought by fears and defenses against these fears, and by attempts to find compromise solutions for conflicting tendencies." She was one of the first psychologists to acknowledge the adaptive function of these ten elements, and also asserted that neuroses and the ways they manifest themselves are context and culturally-dependent - a radical thought for this time period.
Horney’s Rejection of Freud’s Theory
Karen Horney also publicly denounced Freud’s penis envy theory, declaring it as inaccurate, demeaning, and demoralizing to women. Horney stated "Is not the tremendous strength in men of the impulse to creative work in every field precisely due to their feeling of playing a relatively small part in the creation of living beings, which constantly impels them to an overcompensation in achievement?"
Mic DRRRRRROP. Additionally, Horney believed and encouraged women to depend on one another. She preached that women should strive for independence and to avoid the masochism of a life spent in servitude to men. Her perspective and reflections furthered the study of the psychology of women during a time when women’s contributions to the field were overlooked and undervalued. Despite many obstacles and barriers for women at that time, Karen Horney became a prominent figure and made important contributions to feminist and humanistic psychology.
