NEO-FREUDIANS:Harry Stack Sullivan, Karen Horney

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Historyand Systems of Psychology PSY502

Lesson 34

NEO-FREUDIANS

HarryStack Sullivan

HarryStack Sullivan was born in 1894 and died in 1949. He was born in United States, Washington

D.C., worked there. He was a physician by training and later became a psychiatrist. Sullivan is considered

one of the prominent Neo-Freudians because of the similarities between his andSigmund Freud'stheories.

Sullivan was impressed by Freud andRuth Benedict, the anthropologist, so his point of view

reflectsthese influences. He putforward the view that a babyfeels euphoria because hismother feeds and

protectshim, and the baby wantsthat state to last for the longer time. The mother mayconvey insecurity by

empathy in him if she is tenseherself. So a person's psyche is the result of interpersonal relationships, the

beginning of which is the relationship of an infantand a mother. Sullivan saysthat because of interpersonal

relationships, the concept of self develops. He defined three types of self:

"Goodme"

"Badme"

"Notme"

Thegood me is everything we like aboutourselves. It represents the part of us we share with othersand

that we often choose to focus on,because it doesn't produce anxiety. The bad me represents thoseaspects

of the self that are considerednegative and are therefore hidden from others andpossibly even from the

self.The anxiety that we feel is often a result of recognition of the badpart of ourselves, such as when we

recall an embarrassing moment or experienceguilt from a past action.

Thefinal part of us, called the not-me, represents all those things that are so anxiety provokingthat we can

noteven consider them a part of us. Doing so woulddefinitely create anxiety which we spend our lives

trying to avoid. The not-me is keptout of awareness by pushing it deepinto the unconscious.

He put forward the view thatbecause of our interpersonal relationships we come to have three types of

experiences:

Prototaxicexperience

Parataxicexperience

Syntaxicexperience

PrototaxicExperience refers to the firstkind of experience the infanthas and the order or arrangement in

which it occurs. Parataxic experiencesare felt as concomitant, notrecognized as connected in an orderly

way.The child cannot yet relate them to one another or make logical distinctions among them. What is

experienced is assumed to be the 'natural' way of such occurrences, withoutreflection andcomparison.

Since no connections or relations areestablished, there is no logical movement of 'thought' from oneidea

to the next. The parataxic mode is not a step by step process.Experience is undergone as momentary,

unconnectedstates of being.

Thechild gradually learns the 'consensually validated' meaning of language - in the widest sense of language.

Thesemeanings have been acquiredfrom group activities, interpersonal activities, and socialexperience.

Consensually validated symbol activity involves an appeal to principles which areaccepted as true by the

hearer.And when this happens, the youngster has acquired or learned the syntaxes mode of experience.

Sullivan stated that there areabout seven stages of human development:

1. Infancy

Frombirth to about age one, the child begins the process of developing, but Sullivan did notemphasize

as much on the younger years as Freud did.

2. The childhood period

This is from infancy to 8 years. In this the child needs supervision,guidance is dependant.The

development of speech and improved communication is the key in this stage.

3. The juvenile era

Themain focus as a juvenile is the need for playmates and the beginning of healthy socialization

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Historyand Systems of Psychology PSY502

4. Pre-adolescence; 8 to 12 years

During this stage, the child's ability to form a close relationship with a peer is the major focus. This

relationship will later assist the child feeling worthy and likable. Without this ability, forming the

intimate relationships in late adolescence andadulthood will be difficult.

5. Early adolescence

This is from 13 to 18 years and this is when peers and teachers influence him. The onset of puberty

changes this need for friendship to a need for sexual expression.Self worth will oftenbecome

synonymouswith sexual attractivenessand acceptance by opposite sexpeers.

6. Adolescence

Stressesand storms of sexuality begin to dominate in this period. The need forfriendship and needfor

sexualexpression get combined duringlate adolescence. In this stage a long term relationship becomes

the primary focus. Conflicts betweenparental control andself-expression arecommonplace.

7. Maturity

This is when a person becomes a responsiblecitizen. The struggles of adulthood include financial

security,career, and family. Withsuccess during previous stages,especially those in the adolescent

years,adult relationships and muchneeded socialization becomeeasier to attain. Without a solid

background, interpersonal conflicts that result in anxiety become morecommonplace.

Sullivan's therapy mainly related to schizophreniaand he discovered thatinterview was an importanttool of

psychotherapy. He used empathy as another tool of psychotherapy.

KarenHorney

KarenHorney was born in 1885and died in 1952. She was an American psychoanalyst and is classified as a

Neo-Freudian.Horney was a pioneering theorist in personality, psychoanalysis, and feminine psychology.

Shegot training in psychoanalysisand practiced it for a number of years; in 1937 she brokeoff

from the orthodox system andestablished her own theoryand practiced it.

Shedisagreed with Freud on hisemphasis on sexuality as the maindriving force of human behaviour.She

putforward the view thatparental roles can producebasic anxiety in a child andthat is one of the main

drivingforces in a person. Thechild sees the world as hostile, and he feels helpless.Childhood's basic

anxiety appears in later adult life,turning a person into a neurotic. As a result of anxiety the childbecomes

aggressive to overcome helplessness and anxiety. His reactions to anxiety andaggression may take the form

of:

o Disguisedhostility

Tempertantrums

Withdrawal

Shecalls these reactionsneurotic trends. Disguisedhostility is the first neurotic trend. Most children facing

parentalindifference use this strategy.They often have a fear of helplessness and abandonment, or what

Horney referred to as basic anxiety.

Horney's second neurotic trend is aggression, also called the moving-against solution. Here,children's first

reaction to parental indifference is anger, or basic hostility.

Thefinal neurotic trend is withdrawal, often labeled the moving-away-from or resigning solution.When

neitheraggression nor disguisedhostility eliminates the parental indifference, Horney recognizedthat

children attempt to solve the problem by becomingself- sufficient. This represents the neurotic trend of

withdrawal.

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