Karen Horney, una psicoanalista y teórica de la personalidad, desarrolló una teoría de los

mecanismos de defensa, que son estrategias que utilizamos para protegernos del dolor emocional.
Horney identificó diez mecanismos de defensa diferentes, que incluyen la negación, la
racionalización, la evitación y el desplazamiento, entre otros. Según Horney, los mecanismos de
defensa pueden ser contraproducentes a largo plazo, ya que pueden hacernos menos capaces de
confrontar nuestros problemas y procesar nuestras emociones de manera saludable.

Karen Horney, a psychoanalyst and psychologist, developed her own theory of personality that
included 10 neurotic needs and 3 categories of coping strategies, which she referred to as the
"three modes of interpersonal relations." Horney believed that neurosis was an individual's
attempt to cope with the world and not a result of repressed desires or instincts. Horney's theory
of neurosis was based on the idea that a person experiences basic anxiety or feelings of isolation
and helplessness, which leads them to develop coping strategies called "masks." The three modes
of interpersonal relations are moving toward people, moving against people, and moving away
from people. Horney believed that these modes of coping arose out of a person's attempt to deal
with their basic anxiety and that they influenced how a person behaved in relationships. These
modes of coping can be seen as the individual's attempt to protect themselves from further hurt,
pain, or feelings of helplessness and inadequacy. In contrast, Horney believed that healthy
individuals set themselves realistic goals and do not rely on these coping mechanisms or masks.