Petros Levounis, MD, MA, DFASAM

Dr. Levounis came to Rutgers from Columbia University where he served as director of the Addiction Institute of New York and chief of addiction psychiatry at St. Luke's and Roosevelt Hospitals from 2002-2013.

Dr. Levounis is board-certified in psychiatry, addiction psychiatry, and addiction medicine. His academic interests include the psychotherapy and psychopharmacology of addiction and co-occurring psychiatric disorders, the teaching of psychiatry, gay and lesbian mental health, mindfulness, and the behavioral addictions.

Dr. Levounis is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Stanford University where he studied chemistry and biophysics as a combined BS/MS student before completing his medical education at Stanford University School of Medicine and the Medical College of Pennsylvania. During medical school, he researched the effects of social class on patient-physician relationships in Oxford, England, and received an MA degree in sociology from Stanford. In 1994, he moved to New York City to train in psychiatry at the New York State Psychiatric Institute of Columbia University. He graduated from Columbia receiving the National Institute of Mental Health Outstanding Resident Award and went on to complete his fellowship in addiction psychiatry at New York University under the mentorship of Dr. Marc Galanter.

During that time, he received the American Psychiatric Association/Center for Mental Health Services (APA/CMHS) Minority Fellowship, which supported his research on HIV risk factors in homeless men who suffer from severe mental illness and substance use disorders. In 2006, Dr. Levounis completed the Leadership Development for Physicians in Academic Health Centers Program at Harvard School of Public Health.

Dr. Levounis has written numerous articles, monographs, and book chapters; has lectured extensively on addiction topics throughout the United States and abroad; and has been interviewed by CBS, ABC, NBC, CNN, FOX, The Martha Stewart Radio Show, The New York Times, and The Washington Post, among others. He is a Betty Ford Scholar; a member and Laughlin Fellow of the American College of Psychiatrists; and a recipient of the 2008 Coalition Leadership Award, the Irma Bland Award for Excellence in Teaching Residents, the Nancy Roeske Award for Excellence in Medical Student Education, the US State Department Speaker and Specialist Award, and the Association of Gay and Lesbian Psychiatrists’ 2012 Distinguished Service Award. Dr. Levounis serves on the boards of the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) and the American Board of Addiction Medicine (ABAM), and from 2005-2009 chaired the national Committee on Addiction Treatment of the APA. Dr. Levounis is a distinguished fellow of both the APA and ASAM.

Dr. Levounis has authored/edited eleven books including the self-help paperback “Sober Siblings: How to Help Your Alcoholic Brother or Sister—and Not Lose Yourself” (2008), the textbook of “Substance Dependence and Co-Occurring Psychiatric Disorders” (2010), the handbook of “Motivation and Change” (2010), the handbook of “Office-Based Buprenorphine Treatment of Opioid Dependence” (2011), the award-winning “LGBT Casebook” (2012), “The Addiction Casebook” (2014) based on the DSM-5, “The Behavioral Addictions” (2015), an innovative book that includes re-enactment video clips played by Rutgers NJMS medical students, the “Pocket Guide to Addiction Assessment and Treatment” (2016), and “Becoming Mindful: Integrating Mindfulness into Your Psychiatric Practice” (2017, in press). He is currently working on the second editions of his motivational interviewing and buprenorphine books. Dr. Levounis’s books have been translated into Portuguese, Hungarian, and Japanese.