Dan Anderson

Who was Dan Anderson?

Dan Anderson was an American psychologist and head of Hazelden between 1961 and his retirement in 1986. He was the pioneer of the Minnesota Model for alcohol and drug addiction treatment, based in part on the twelve-step program of Alcoholics Anonymous.

Anderson was born in Minneapolis and studied at the College of St. Thomas, where he received a B.A. degree in 1950. Starting in 1952 he worked at Willmar State Hospital. After having graduated in 1956 as a M.A. in clinical psychology from Chicago's Loyola University, he began consulting and lecturing at Hazelden in 1957. In 1961 he left Willmar and became vice president of Hazelden. In 1966 he received the Ph.D. degree from the University of Ottawa. In 1971 he advanced to president of Hazelden, a position he held until his retirement in 1986.