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 functionin ...

Biography

Early life and education

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

Suwałki Governorate Suwałki Governorate (russian: Сувалкская губерния, pl, gubernia suwalska, lt, Suvalkų gubernija) was a governorate (administrative area) of Congress Poland ("Russian Poland") which had its seat in the city of Suwałki. It co ...

, then in the

Russian partition The Russian Partition ( pl, zabór rosyjski), 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 Po ...

of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

. 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 current ...

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

Early career

Continuing with his studies, Levinson did a Bachelor of Science at

City University of New York The City University of New York ( CUNY; , ) 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 Upper divis ...

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 research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

. 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 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,Rosa's Law, Pub. L. 111-256124 Stat. 2643(2010). is a generalized neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by signifi ...

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 functionin ...

Animal-Assisted Therapy

In 1953, while giving therapy to a withdrawn child he observed that the child opened up to his dog, Jingles, by talking to it. It led to the accidental discovery about the possibility of using a dog 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 largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States, with over 133,000 members, including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants, and students. It ha ...

. Many of the audience met him with ridicule, while some others accepted his ideas. Levinson's first article about the human-animal bond cemented the way to later research and ideas 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 about the topic, as well as books. He's known as one of the fathers of the field of animal-assisted therapy.

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 Orthodox Jewish university with four campuses in New York City."About YU
on the Yeshiva Universit ...

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