Best known for her independence of mind and consistency, Dr. Karen Horney, was one of the most influential psychoanalysts of the 19th century. Although she has never received official national recognition for her work, Karen Horney has made numerous noteworthy contributions to psychology. Significantly, some of Horney's contributions include: self-psychology, humanism, female psychology, and psychoanalysis. As an expert in female psychology, many of Horney's ideas challenged those of Sigmund Freud. In this article we will look at different aspects of Karen's life, which will include her early educational life up to her Theory of Neurosis. Born on September 16, 1885 in Eilbeck, Germany, Karen Clementina Theodora Danielsen, grew up. Such discussions eventually developed into the Berlin Psychoanalytic Society. In 1915 Horney became secretary of the office, which led to the inauguration of the Polyclinic. Surprisingly, this provided the opportunity for Horney to make some notable contributions, as one of the founding members. Some of her contributions to this clinic included: teaching students through an innovatively designed training program, treating patients (inpatient and through private practice), conducting research in psychoanalysis (special emphasis on the female). It was in these writings that she began to emphasize topics such as the complexities of motherhood, female masochism, female gender envy, marital difficulties, and the masculinity complex in women. In her book, Female Psychology, Horney begins to challenge some of Freud's ideas about the psychosexual development of women through trial and error. Her hypotheses on such issues of femininity touch on frigidity, the monogamous ideal, maternal conflicts and mistrust between the sexes.