The present is just an attempt to give a brief overview of Karen Horney’s theory of Neurosis as a way to self realization. In fact her theory can be clearly seen to have evolved gradually as she continued writing her works. There are four distinct phases in the development of her thought: The first concerns her early essays on feminine psychology; the second is about her recognition that culture and disturbed human relationships are more important than biology as causes of neurotic development; the third is about her study of the interpersonal defenses and the intrapsychic defenses developed to cope with anxiety; and the fourth concerns the therapeutic work.
A keen reader of Horney's works will notice just how much they were in line with what meant when she talked of every man having the capacity as well as the desire to develop his potentials to become the best human person, and to realize all his potentials (Horney 1945, 19).
If for example we consider the fact that the above statement was made when she was already sixty years old, we can easily say that she knew what she meant. The same statement seems also to have been a descriptive summary of her whole life, that is struggling to fight the cultural biases of her time, as well as to go beyond where probably no other woman before had gone before her.
One thing we can easily note in reading her works is that, though they bear different titles and were even written in different times, they seem to have a common running theme which unites all of them. They all revolve around the theme of neurosis and its origins in interpersonal relationships (beginning from relationship with the parents, the family and the environment or culture). A comment to make here is that, just as much as neurosis seems to trace its origin from a failed interpersonal relationship, we can also note that the works of Horney seem to suggest that recovery process will have to include recourse to interpersonal relationships – this is especially when we consider the neurotic trends as coping strategies. This however, is not in any way intended to overlook the individual capacity to do it alone.
For that matter, I come now to one what impressed me more in all of Horney’s works. It is true to say that all of us suffer from ineffective beliefs that Horney calls neurotic trends. Almost alone in the psychiatric community she encourages the seeker of self truth that there is hope in doing it your self – this is more emphatic in Self - analysis. Her clear enumeration of the needs (though she also corrupted them to neurotic needs) that plague us and their consequences can assist one in first discovering the mind’s conditioned reactions and then gradually eliminating the ineffective trend.
If the reader can learn from reading, Horney’s books can guide the keen reader on the path to become the best person one desires and loves to be. In my own assessment of her books especially Self Analysis (1942), and while still not under-valuing the worth of the others, it (the book) is the starting point for that path. It is a book that can help a reader to recognize the neurotic trends that limit ones perception of reality and probably even of happiness. To discover the causes and interrelations within the personality the reader should proceed through her other books. This, her book (1942) as well as others seems to be a statement that life is the best therapist.
And for someone like a student of the Psychology, and with prospects for a future in the field of education or life in general, the theory of Horney and her life background as hereby presented though not exhaustively, remains an inspiration. The greatest lesson one can learn from here is that though we have the inherent capacity to do or reach where we desire, the help from others (especially therapists or counsellors) can be very helpful more-so when an individual’s emotional and psychological equilibrium is disturbed leading to a problem in adjusting to a given situation.
In the beginning, I was personally wondering why Horney’s ideas have not been taken by many researchers, or rather seem not to have stimulated much research, but now, after continuous and wide reading it has occurred to me much they are applicable to fields like social psychology, and even psychotherapy. It is a student’s challenge now to pick up from where Horney stopped and see what more can be added, or even see how useful it is in helping people in difficult situations.
A keen reader of Horney's works will notice just how much they were in line with what meant when she talked of every man having the capacity as well as the desire to develop his potentials to become the best human person, and to realize all his potentials (Horney 1945, 19).
If for example we consider the fact that the above statement was made when she was already sixty years old, we can easily say that she knew what she meant. The same statement seems also to have been a descriptive summary of her whole life, that is struggling to fight the cultural biases of her time, as well as to go beyond where probably no other woman before had gone before her.
One thing we can easily note in reading her works is that, though they bear different titles and were even written in different times, they seem to have a common running theme which unites all of them. They all revolve around the theme of neurosis and its origins in interpersonal relationships (beginning from relationship with the parents, the family and the environment or culture). A comment to make here is that, just as much as neurosis seems to trace its origin from a failed interpersonal relationship, we can also note that the works of Horney seem to suggest that recovery process will have to include recourse to interpersonal relationships – this is especially when we consider the neurotic trends as coping strategies. This however, is not in any way intended to overlook the individual capacity to do it alone.
For that matter, I come now to one what impressed me more in all of Horney’s works. It is true to say that all of us suffer from ineffective beliefs that Horney calls neurotic trends. Almost alone in the psychiatric community she encourages the seeker of self truth that there is hope in doing it your self – this is more emphatic in Self - analysis. Her clear enumeration of the needs (though she also corrupted them to neurotic needs) that plague us and their consequences can assist one in first discovering the mind’s conditioned reactions and then gradually eliminating the ineffective trend.
If the reader can learn from reading, Horney’s books can guide the keen reader on the path to become the best person one desires and loves to be. In my own assessment of her books especially Self Analysis (1942), and while still not under-valuing the worth of the others, it (the book) is the starting point for that path. It is a book that can help a reader to recognize the neurotic trends that limit ones perception of reality and probably even of happiness. To discover the causes and interrelations within the personality the reader should proceed through her other books. This, her book (1942) as well as others seems to be a statement that life is the best therapist.
And for someone like a student of the Psychology, and with prospects for a future in the field of education or life in general, the theory of Horney and her life background as hereby presented though not exhaustively, remains an inspiration. The greatest lesson one can learn from here is that though we have the inherent capacity to do or reach where we desire, the help from others (especially therapists or counsellors) can be very helpful more-so when an individual’s emotional and psychological equilibrium is disturbed leading to a problem in adjusting to a given situation.
In the beginning, I was personally wondering why Horney’s ideas have not been taken by many researchers, or rather seem not to have stimulated much research, but now, after continuous and wide reading it has occurred to me much they are applicable to fields like social psychology, and even psychotherapy. It is a student’s challenge now to pick up from where Horney stopped and see what more can be added, or even see how useful it is in helping people in difficult situations.
