Psychologist and Psychoanalyst

Dr. Gottdiener is a clinical psychologist with over 30 years of clinical experience helping people with substance use disorders, which includes working in inpatient, outpatient, and private practice settings. His expertise is in the use of empirically-supported psychodynamic therapy for people with addictive disorders.

He is board certified by the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP) in Addiction Psychology, Psychodynamic and Psychoanalytic Psychology, and in Psychoanalysis.

He is also a tenured full professor of psychology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY) where he previously served as the director of the college’s addiction studies program and the director of clinical training of the college’s American Psychological Association (APA) accredited clinical psychology doctoral program that is affiliated with the CUNY Graduate Center.

Dr. Gottdiener has published over 50 articles and book chapters and he has made over 70 presentations. He is the recipient of research grants from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, CUNY, and the Far Fund. He is on the editorial boards of the journals Psychodynamic Psychiatry, Psychoanalytic Psychology, and the Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association. He was previously an associate editor of the journals Addiction Research and Theory and the Journal of Psychotherapy Integration. He is also the recipient of awards for teaching excellence and student mentoring. He is an APA Fellow in the divisions of addiction, clinical psychology, psychoanalysis, and general psychology and he is a Fellow of the International Psychoanalytic Association(IPA). His primary research interests are on the psychodynamic personality processes relevant to the development, maintenance, and treatment of substance use disorders. His research and scholarship were recognized by Division 39 (psychoanalysis) of the APA, which honored him with its prestigious Research and Scholarship Award in 2015.

Dr. Gottdiener received his BA from Hunter College–CUNY and his MA in general psychology and his PhD in clinical psychology from The New School for Social Research in New York. He subsequently completed a postdoctoral fellowship in substance abuse research funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse.