This article presents an examination and evaluation of the role of psychiatry in the treatment of alcoholism, and an interpretation of the nature of addiction and the concept of alcoholism as an addictive disease. It treats the conflicts and problems of the alcoholic with a description of common neurotic methods used to solve them; the psychological needs served by alcohol; methods of therapy, including psychotherapy, group therapy, psychoanalysis, Alcoholics Anonymous, and so forth; the role of the patient and therapist in determining results of psychotherapy; and the need for a co-ordination of scientific and lay disciplines to further our knowledge and improve results.