Download Author: Levin, Jerome D. Ph.D.

Dr. Levin has been kissed by a wolf, petted a jaguar, climbed Kilimanjaro, plunged into a crevasse on Alaska’s Mount Denali, and looked down on Everest’s base camp from 18000 foot Kala Pitar, all while writing seventeen books, carrying a heavy caseload of psychotherapy patients in Manhattan and Long Island and teaching at the New School for Social Research in New York’s Greenwich Village. His teaching at the New School has been wide ranging. He directed and taught in a program to train addiction counselors for over 25 years, as well as teaching “cross-over” philosophy-psychology courses, the first of which was “Reason and Passion in Western Thought: Plato, Spinoza, and Freud,” followed by “Anxiety and the Nature of Reality,”  “Theories of the Self,” and “Our Relationship to the Wild.” He went on to teach a variety of other innovative courses, which he designed, and has taught more standard curricula at St. Joseph’s, Marymount Manhattan, and Suffolk County Community Colleges. He has also taught and supervised at psychoanalytic institutes and has been a guest lecturer at such diverse venues as the Pennsylvania Society of Clinical Social Workers, Boston College School of Social Work, and Harvard University’s Continuing Education Addiction Program. Dr. Levin has been featured on a range of media, including over a hundred radio shows, and on television onChris Matthews’ “Hardball,” NBC’s “Dateline,” and Danish, Spanish and German TV. Dr. Levin was educated at the University of Pennsylvania, McGill University, and New York University, from which he received his Ph.D. He is also a Fellow of the American Institute of Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis, where he received his psychoanalytic raining. His clinical practice has also been wide ranging. He treats adults, older adolescents, and couples. In over thirty years of practice, there is little in the scope of human misery and psychopathology that has not been presented to Dr. Levin by people looking for relief. Priding himself on his ability to relate to all kinds and conditions of men and women, he has usually been able to offer meaningful assistance. Although primarily about addictions (including sexual addiction) and their treatment, Dr. Levin’s writings have also covered a wide range of other topics, including narcissism, childlessness and chronic depression, as well as book reviews and travel articles. They include textbooks, professional works, and popular expositions. In all these genres, Dr. Levin strives for clarity and accessibility. Dr. Levin’s work has been translated into Italian, Greek, Farsi and Arabic. He can be reached at jeromedlevin@gmail.com or 631-369-0922. Or you can write him at P.O. Box 309, Manorville, New York, 11949.
40 eBooks available.

Cunning, Baffling, Powerful: Bill Wilson’s Struggle with Addiction

A complex man with a compelling story. Bill Wilson’s life has an intrinsic fascination in and of itself. But beyond its subject’s drama, lies the issues it brings up, particularly around the causes and treatment of alcoholism and addiction in general. Alcoholism is said to be a biopsychosocial disorder. This dramatization of Wilson’s struggles illuminates aspects of the disease.

 

Herzl and Freud

Two geniuses live on the same Vienna street – one founded psychoanalysis; the other set the stage for the creation of the State of Israel. Part I of Levin’s Herzl and Freud examines the political, cultural, and historical environment which gave rise to Theodore Herzl and his determination to create a Jewish State In Part II, Levin imagines a re-creation of the relationship between Sigmund Freud and Theodore Herzl, where Herzl become’s Freud’s patient. Or is it the other way around? Does Herzl cure Freud? It’s for you to decide. Either way sparks fly as each is transformed in a setting of cataclysmic events – the rise of virulent nationalism and resurgent antisemitism as Europe rushes toward the abyss. The personal and the political, the emotional and the historical find expression in this clash of giants.

The World Within and The World Without:Essays on Therapy Travel and Self-Discovery

Dr. Jerome Levin draws on 30 years of practicing psychotherapy, exploring the world, introspection and devouring literature, to share his conclusions on therapy and life. Essays range from scholarly, to the psychodynamic, to the personal. These essays are accessible, entertaining, informative, and thought provoking. (329 pp.)

Treatment Methods for Alcoholism

Treatment of alcoholism must be multifaceted because alcoholism is a biopsychosocial disorder. Treatment must be aimed at every known facet of the disease.

A Theoretical Model and Case Study

This chapter presents my own (Levin, 1987) model of the psychodynamic correlative of alcoholism, and of addiction in general, as a regression or fixation to pathological narcissism in a special sense.

One Patient’s Experience on the “Flight Deck”

Before the growth of rehabilitation units, known as “rehabs,” alcoholics who needed extended treatment went to psychiatric hospitals or wards. In the language of AA, they were “on the flight deck.” Some alcoholics are still treated in psychiatric wards and we may see more of this in the future. For this reason, I have included one patient’s account of his experience in a psychiatric hospital for the treatment of alcoholism. Since he is an AA member, his story gives insight into the dynamics of AA.

Other Etiological Theories of Alcoholism

This chapter examines some of the most important of these theories ranging from Carl Jung’s spiritual account to conflict theories to learning theories to Robert Cloninger’s neurochemical tridimensional personality theory to stages-of-change theories. Complex, sometimes competing, sometimes complementary, this array of primarily psychological theory is fascinating. It also has profound clinical implications. As you read, think about ways, if it is possible, to integrate the various theories and consider how you might apply them to clinical work.