Karen Horney

Karen Horney has made many outstanding contributions to the world of social science, especially in the field of psychology. Prior to becoming a social scientist, Karen attended The University of Freiburg where she studied medicine. While attending university, Karen suffered the loss of both her parents which led her to meet with a psychoanalyst for therapy. It was during her treatment that she became interested in pursuing her education and career in psychology. She then went on to study at the Berlin Psychoanalytic Institute under Karl Abraham, who was not only her mentor but also her her psychoanalytic therapist (Held 2010). Karen specialized in psychoanalysis, which is a type of therapy in which mental disorders are treated by discussing …show more content…
She was one of the first people to do a substantial amount of research on this field of psychology causing her studies to be somewhat controversial. Dr. Ann-Marie Neale (2013b) states that the majority of Karen 's work and writing on feminine psychology took place over the first half of her career when she resided in Germany. Karen had strong feminist beliefs which led her to have disagreements with many people, especially men in the world of psychology. Although Karen did study a great amount of Sigmund Freud 's work, she did not agree with his views on gender issues (McFatridge). She felt like the development of women was being wrongly presented by Sigmund Freud. Freud believed that when young girls were developing, they had a stage in their life where they had anxiety because they were not like men (McFatridge). Horney countered this by saying that developing adolescent males experienced the same thing. She developed a theory that stated that young males had anxiety because they realized that they were not able to carry and give birth to children, she called this theory “womb envy” (McFatridge). Karen Horney also greatly believed in the concept of “being your own therapist” and self analysis. According to Horney, (1942) the greatest influence on ones psychological wellness is your own. Her book, Self Analysis discusses how people can use psychological techniques to try and treat their own …show more content…
Perhaps one of her biggest influences on todays world would be the work she pursued on gender issues. Horney was the first standout female to study feminine psychology which is why many people continue to look up to her and her teachings. We can see influences of her arguments regarding gender in the strong feminist movement that is occurring all around the world in today 's times. Karen 's work on gender issues set an example for females living in our time to not always accept everything you hear. Karen did not agree with the way females were being portrayed by males so she decided to stand up for women and counter the theories that other psychologists had developed. There are many examples of women taking a stand in Canadian society just like Karen did. For example, protests against sexual assault and violence towards women. In addition, many universities and psychology schools look at Karen 's work and continue to study her theory of neurosis even after over 50 years of her developing it. In some cases, schools even offer courses that focus specifically on Karen 's studies on gender issues (Neale 2013a). In conclusion, it is obvious that Karen Horney had an outstanding influence on not only the psychological world but also on society in general. Her theories and teachings are still admired all over the world to this