Linden West - Our Inner Conflicts

The International Library of Psychology

OUR INNER CONFLICTS

Founded by C. K. Ogden

The International Library of Psychology

PSYCHOANALYSIS

In 28 Volumes

OUR INNER CONFLICTS

A Constructive Theory of Neurosis

KAREN HORNEY

First published in 1946

by Routledge

Reprinted 1999, 2001 by Routledge

2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN

Transferred to Digital Printing 2007

1946 Karen Horney

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group

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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Our Inner Conflicts

ISBN 0415-21098-4

Psychoanalysis: 28 Volumes

ISBN 0415-21132-8

The International Library of Psychology: 204 Volumes

ISBN 0415-19132-7

Contents

T HIS BOOK is dedicated to the advancement of psychoanalysis. It has grown out of my experience in analytical work with my patients and with myself. While the theory it presents evolved over a period of years, it was not until I undertook the preparation of a series of lectures under the auspices of the American Institute for Psychoanalysis that my ideas finally crystallized. The first of these, centering about the technical aspects of the subject, was entitled Problems of Psychoanalytical Technique (1943). The second series, which covered the problems dealt with here, was given in 1944 under the title Integration of Personality. Selected subjects Integration of Personality in Psychoanalytical Therapy, The Psychology of Detachment, and The Meaning of Sadistic Trendshave been presented at the Academy of Medicine and before the Association for the Advancement of Psychoanalysis.

It is my hope that the book will be useful to psychoanalysts who are seriously interested in improving our theory and therapy. I hope also that they will not only make the ideas presented here available to their patients but will apply them to themselves as well. Progress in psychoanalysis can only be made the hard way, by including ourselves and our difficulties. If we remain static and averse to change, our theories are bound to become barren and dogmatic.

I am convinced, however, that any book that goes beyond the range of merely technical matters or abstract psychological theory should benefit also all those who want to know themselves and have not given up struggling for their own growth. Most of us who live in this difficult civilization are caught in the conflicts described here and need all the help we can get. Though severe neuroses belong in the hands of experts, I still believe that with untiring effort we can ourselves go a long way toward disentangling our own conflicts.

My prime gratitude belongs to my patients who, in our work together, have given me a better understanding of neurosis. I am also indebted to my colleagues who have encouraged my work by their interest and sympathetic understanding. I refer not only to my older colleagues but also to the younger ones, trained in our Institute, whose critical discussions have been stimulating and fruitful.

I want to mention three persons outside the field of psychoanalysis who in their own particular ways have given me support in the furtherance of my work. It was Dr. Alvin Johnson who gave me the opportunity to present my ideas at the New School for Social Research at a time when classical Freudian analysis was the only recognized school of analytical theory and practice. More especially I am indebted to Clara Mayer, Dean of the School of Philosophy and Liberal Arts of the New School for Social Research. By her continued personal interest she has encouraged me, year after year, to offer for discussion whatever new findings were garnered from my analytical work. And then there is my publisher, W. W. Norton, whose helpful advice has led to many improvements in my books. Last but not least, I want to express my appreciation to Minette Kuhn who has helped me greatly toward a better organization of the material and a clearer formulation of my ideas.