Horney’s Social and Cultural

Psychoanalysis

BIOGRAPHY

relationship with her father and his attitude

her therapy experiences caused her to question traditional psychoanalysis

she put less emphasis on instincts and more on the “social” basis of pathology.

CONCEPTS AND PRINCIPLES

hypercompetitiveness - a need to win at any cost, as a society we are too competitive.

basic anxiety - feeling isolated and helpless in a potentially hostile world.

neurotic needs (strategies) (10)

normal people use these flexibly and adaptively

neurotic people use these narrowly and rigidly.

neurotic trends (types) (3)

1. compliant - moving toward people.

2. aggressive - moving against people.

3. detached - moving away from people.

PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT

Horney’s view on Freud’s concept of “penis envy” - the concept was valid and involved

anatomy but had complex causes such as….

….the act of urination symbolically giving the

male, but not the female, permission to masturbate.

Horney’s view on Freud’s concept of “female masochism” - Feminine self hatred and self contempt was due to the male being larger and stronger….

….but more importantly was due to “society” placing women in the “inferior” role.

humanistic view of development - everyone has “unique” potentials that will flourish with the parental support.

real self - the individual’s intrinsic set of potentialities.

neurotics - create an “idealized self” who must be perfect

Horney calls this need for perfection the “Tyranny of the shoulds.”

neurotics are filled with self hatred as the “actual self” can never measure up to the “idealized self.”

externalization - blaming outside causes for problems.

Seven “auxiliary” defenses used by neurotics

These are not considered positive ways of coping. However,

I would bet that the

most successful people use compartmentalization extensively!

THEORY’S IMPLICATIONS FOR THEREAPY

Neurotics must give up their illusions about themselves and their “irrational beliefs”

they can then work on finding their “real” selves.

Therapy is a human relationship and the person’s problems will show up there just as in their daily lives.

Evaluation:

in terms of HEURISTIC VALUE, Albert Ellis’s Rational Emotive Therapy draws heavily on Horney’s ideas.

In terms of APPLIED VALUE, Horney's ideas about irrational beliefs have had a huge

impact on cognitive behavioral therapists.