Moving Away, Against and Toward God: Karen Horney's Neurotic Trends and Relationship to God.
Journal of Psychology and Christianity 2009, Spring, 28, 1
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- 2,99 €
Description de l’éditeur
In recent years Christian counselors have been offered a variety of lenses for understanding how clients relate to God: attachment theory, object relations theory, faith development theory (e.g., Fowler, 1981; Kirkpatrick, 1992; Rizzuto, 1979). The purpose of this article is to demonstrate the usefulness of Horney's (1945) characterization of three "neurotic trends" as a way for the Christian counselor or therapist to understand a person's way of relating, especially to God. More specifically, this article will help counselors and therapists to identify the fears and anxieties that lie behind the adoption of these trends; to recognize these trends when they are manifested in relationships toward God; and to offer suggestions for working with these various patterns as they manifest in Christian clients. Karen Horney's (1945) well known triad of neurotic attitudes--moving toward, away, and against others--has proved a useful rubric for explaining a variety of human behavior and relationships, including interactions between married couples (Horwitz, 1994; Lyon 1991), parents and children (Feiring, 1984), clients and therapists (Zimmerman, 1956), group therapy members (Maiello, 1996), and employer and employees (Allcorn, 1992). However, little has been written using this rubric as a means for understanding people's relationships with God (Cooper, 2003; Kirwan, 1984). While several of the post-Freudian theories have been used to expand our understanding of religious behavior and relationships with God, Horney's triad of neurotic attitudes has not seen wide use. The authors of this article propose that Horney's triad of neurotic trends provides a useful and simple rubric for assessing religious behavior and will prove an effective, yet easy to use diagnostic tool for Christian counseling and therapy.