Boris Mayer Levinson (July 1, 1907 - April 2, 1984) was an American psychologist who accidentally discovered the therapeutic benefits of

animal-assisted therapy Animal-assisted therapy (AAT) is an alternative or complementary type of therapy that includes the use of animals in a treatment. The goal of this animal-assisted intervention is to improve a patient's social, emotional, or cognitive functioning ...

Biography

Early life and education

Levinson was born to Jewish parents in the Lithuanian town of Kalvarija,

Suwałki Governorate Suwałki Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit (''guberniya'') of Congress Poland of the Russian Empire, which had its seat in the city of Suwałki. It covered a territory of about . History In 1867, the territories of the Augustów ...

, then in the

Russian partition The Russian Partition (), sometimes called Russian Poland, constituted the former territories of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that were annexed by the Russian Empire in the course of late-18th-century Partitions of Poland. The Russian ac ...

of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

. He was the third eldest of four siblings. When Levinson was 14, his family emigrated in 1923 to the United States to New York City. The Levinson family established themselves in Brooklyn, East New York. He graduated from

Eastern District High School The Grand Street Campus is a building used as the home for three high schools in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York City. The current building at 850 Grand Street opened in 1981; its identity as the Grand Street Campus dates to 1996. It is curre ...

in Brooklyn and afterwards became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1930.

Early career

Continuing with his studies, Levinson completed his Bachelor of Science at the

City University of New York The City University of New York (CUNY, pronounced , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven ...

in 1937, and in 1938 he earned a Master of Science in Education. In 1947, he earned his PhD in clinical psychology from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

. His dissertation, ''"A Comparative Study of Certain Homeless and Unattached Domiciled Men,"'' lead him to become a pioneer in the study of homeless men; he wrote several articles about the topic. He also wrote about a variety of other topics, such as the psychological traits of children of traditional Jewish backgrounds, childhood autism,

intellectual disability Intellectual disability (ID), also known as general learning disability (in the United Kingdom), and formerly mental retardation (in the United States), Rosa's Law, Pub. L. 111-256124 Stat. 2643(2010).Archive is a generalized neurodevelopmental ...

and

animal assisted therapy Animal-assisted therapy (AAT) is an alternative or complementary type of therapy that includes the use of animals in a treatment. The goal of this animal-assisted intervention is to improve a patient's social, emotional, or cognitive functioning ...

Animal-assisted therapy

In 1953, while giving therapy to a withdrawn child Levinson observed that the child spoke and opened up to his dog Jingles. This led to the accidental discovery about the possible utilization of dogs in therapy. Initially, he dismissed the idea, but later, in 1961, wrote an article titled ''"The dog as a 'co-therapist',"'' which he later presented at a meeting of the

American Psychological Association The American Psychological Association (APA) is the main professional organization of psychologists in the United States, and the largest psychological association in the world. It has over 170,000 members, including scientists, educators, clin ...

. Much of the audience responded to him with ridicule, while others accepted his ideas. Levinson's first article about the human-animal bond paved the way for later research in this field. He also coined the term "pet therapy" on his second article about the human-animal bond in 1964. He continued to write more articles and books on the topic. Levinson is known as one of the fathers of the field of animal-assisted therapy.

Jewish studies

Having been born to Jewish parents and having spent most of his life in Brooklyn, New York, Levinson wrote a significant number of papers featuring Jewish subjects. Notably, Levinson conducted numerous studies on the intelligence of Jewish children and adolescents. Especially considering the Jewish population, he held in high regard scientific integrity. This is clearly evident in a scathing metatextual critique Levinson wrote in 1980.

Personal life

In 1934, Levinson married his first wife, Ruth Berkowitz, and they had two sons. They later divorced and Levinson married for the second time to Aida Peñaranda, a diplomat from Bolivia, in 1974.

Death

Levinson died of a heart attack in 1984. He was the director of human animal companion therapy at the Blueberry Center and was professor emeritus of psychology of

Yeshiva University Yeshiva University is a Private university, private Modern Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox Jewish university with four campuses in New York City.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Levinson, Boris 1907 births 1984 deaths People from Kalvarija, Lithuania American people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent 20th-century American psychologists Jewish psychologists Lithuanian Jews Polish emigrants to the United States