Karen Horney was a German psychoanalyst who developed her own theories on neurosis. She was born in 1885 in Germany to a strict father and favored her mother. As a child, she felt deprived of affection from her father and developed her first bout of depression at age nine. She pursued her dream of becoming a physician against her father's wishes. She married in 1909 but had a difficult marriage. She analyzed herself under Karl Abraham and took patients at the Berlin Psychoanalytic Institute until 1932 when she moved to Chicago. Horney disagreed with some of Freud's theories and developed her own ideas about neurosis and human growth, publishing influential works. She established the Karen Horney Clinic in 1952 and is considered one of the

1. Psychoanalytic Social Theory
“Life itself still remains a very effective therapist.” – K. Horney

2. ψ Born in Blankenese, small town near Hamburg, Germany
as Karen Clementina Theodora Danielsen on September
15, 1885
ψ Only daughter of Berndt (Wackels) Danielsen, sea
captain and Clothilda van Ronzelen Danielsen, who was
18-19 years his junior (also second wife)
ψ Had five siblings: four from Berndt’s first marriage (all
males) and one older brother (also named Berndt)
ψ Felt hostility towards her father and regarded him as
religious hypocrite but greatly favored her mother

3. ψ Felt deprived of affection
because of her father’s
preference of her older
brother, Berndt
ψ She was the acting
housekeeper when her
mother is not around
which included keeping
her brothers’ things
organized.
ψ At age nine, she
developed a crush
towards her brother but
was turned down leading
to her first bout with
depression

4. ψ At 13, she wanted to become a
physician (as well as the rest of
her siblings but she was the
only one who succeeded)
much to his father’s
opposition and society
ψ In 1904, her parents divorced
leaving Karen, 19 and Berndt,
23
ψ In 1906, she entered University
of Freiburg where she met
Oscar Horney, political
science student
ψ In 1909, they married and
stayed in Berlin

5. ψ She became one of the boys because she saw that
being girly would only lead to ridicule
ψ Earned an MD in 1911 in University of Berlin (after
Freiburg and Gottingen)

6. ψ Parents were divorced and
died a year after the other
ψ She gave birth to three
daughters in five years (1910:
Brigitte, 1913: Marianne,
1916: Renate)
ψ Oskar was just like her
father, Berndt, as predicted
by Freud – harsh,
authoritative disciplinarian
ψ She had several love
affairs

7. ψ In 1923, Oskar developed meningitis and lost his job
and forced to live in Berlin
ψ In the same year, Horney's brother died at age forty of
pulmonary infection
ψ In 1926, they separated but did not officially divorce
until 1938

8. ψ In 1913, she began an analysis with Karl Abraham
ψ In 1917, she wrote her first paper on psychoanalysis,
“The Technique of Psychoanalytic Therapy”
ψ In 1919, she began to take in patients at Berlin
Psychoanalytic Clinic and Institute until 1932
ψ In 1932, she became associate director of Chicago
Pychoanalytic Institute
ψ In 1950, she published her most important work,
Neurosis and Human Growth
ψ In 1952, she established Karen Horney Clinic

9. ψ Freud’s ‘penis envy’ and ‘Oedipus complex’ concepts,
instinct-driven people and Freud’s male chauvinism
were the main reasons of Horney’s drifting away

10.  The Neurotic Personality of our Time (1937)
 New Ways in Psychoanalysis (1939)
 Self-Analysis (1942)
 Our Inner Conflicts (1945)
 Are You Considering Psychoanalysis? (1946)
 Neurosis and Human Growth (1950)
 The Collected Works of Karen Horney (1950)
 The Adolescent Diaries of Karen Horney (1980)
 The Unknown Karen Horney: Essays on
Gender, Culture, and Psychoanalysis (2000)

12. Feist, Jess and Feist, Gregory. Theories of Personality. 7th ed.
McGraw-Hill. International Edition 2010.
Boeree, Dr. C. George. Karen Horney. nd. np. Web. 29 Dec
2012. http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/horney.html.
Karen Horney. nd. goodtherapy.org. Web. 30 Dec 2012.
http://www.goodtherapy.org/famous-psychologists/karen-
horney.html.
Langenderfer, Gretchen. Karen Horney. May 2009. np. Web.
29 Dec 2012.
http://www.muskingum.edu/~psych/psycweb/history/hor
ney.htm.
Odds, Madness and Triumph: The Life of Karen Horney. nd.
np. Web. 2 Jan 2013.
http://www2.webster.edu/~woolflm/horney2.html.

13. Mariah Sandrine M. Dating
Yzea Ordas