Story of Karen Horney

Continuing our journey through the theme "Women in Psychology", today the story is by Karen Horney.

She was a revolutionary figure. Her innovative and critical approach to Freudian theories opened new perspectives in psychology, challenging the conventional notions of her time.

Childhood and youth

Born in 1885 in Hamburg, Germany, Karen was the youngest of four children and grew up in a challenging home.

Her father, a ship captain, was a distant and authoritarian man, while her mother was a woman unhappy with her marriage and society.

It is likely that this family dynamic instilled in Karen a deep curiosity about human relationships and the psyche.

Studies

Karen Horney began her career in medicine, against her parents' wishes, and then immersed herself in the studies of psychoanalysis.

She was one of the first women to enter this field in Germany, where she began to question prevailing theories about female psychology.

Challenging Freud 

Moving to the United States in 1932 represented a milestone in her career.

It was there that Horney developed her criticisms of Freudian theories, especially in relation to female sexuality. She disagreed that women were jealous of the phallus. For her, the opposite was true: men were jealous of the uterus and the female ability to give birth.

Horney also argued that the differences between men and women lay in education and socialization and not in biology, a revolutionary idea at the time.

Theoretical Deepening 

In the following years, Horney deepened her research into neurosis, anxiety, and human needs, introducing the idea that culture and social conditions play a crucial role in the formation of neurosis.

Horney observed that patterns of anxiety and insecurity in her patients were the result of disturbances in interpersonal relationships, and not just unconscious sexual conflicts, as Freud suggested.

Founding of the American Institute of Psychoanalysis

Despite being respected in the field, when she contradicted Freud, she was expelled from the New York Institute of Psychoanalysis.

However, together with some other dissidents, she founded the American Institute of Psychoanalysis in an act of intellectual and professional independence. This movement not only consolidated her break with traditional theories, but also established a space for the development and teaching of her own theories, solidifying her legacy.

Conclusion

Karen Horney's story teaches us about the importance of seeking to truly understand the complexity of human nature and not to neglect a broader and more critical look at female behavior.

Her life and work mapped and opened paths to understanding the female psyche, profoundly impacting humanistic and Gestalt psychology , psychotherapy, psychoanalysis, existentialism and feminism.