G. Alan Marlatt

Who was G. Alan Marlatt?

Gordon Alan Marlatt Ph.D. was Professor of Psychology at the University of Washington and Director of the Addictive Behaviors Research Center at that institution. Born in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1941, he received his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Indiana University in 1968. After serving on the faculties of the University of British Columbia and the University of Wisconsin–Madison, he joined the University of Washington faculty in the fall of 1972. He conducted pioneering research in three areas: harm reduction, brief interventions, and relapse prevention.

In 1996, Dr. Marlatt was appointed as a member of the National Advisory Council on Drug Abuse of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. He served as the President of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors from 1983 to 1984; President of the Section for the Development of Clinical Psychology as an Experimental-Behavioral Science of the Society of Clinical Psychology, 1985–1986; and President of the Association for the Advancement of Behavior Therapy, 1991–1992.

Marlatt's books include Alcoholism: New Directions in Behavioral Research and Treatment, Relapse Prevention: Maintenance strategies in the treatment of addictive behaviors, Assessment of Addictive Behaviors, Addictive Behaviors Across the Lifespan, Harm Reduction: Pragmatic Strategies for Managing High-Risk Behaviors, Changing Addictive Behavior, and Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention for College Students Manual, The Tao of Sobriety: Helping You to Recover from Alcohol and Drug Addiction, and Therapist's Guide to Evidence-Based Relapse Prevention. In addition, he published over 200 book chapters and journal articles and served on the editorial boards of numerous professional journals, including the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, Journal of Abnormal Psychology, Addictive Behaviors, and Journal of Studies on Alcohol.