The article reviews contemporary psychodynamic conceptions of alcohol addiction. The concepts of E. J. Khantzian, J. McDougall, J. Levin, L. Dodes, P. J. Flores and B. Reading are presented. Contemporary psychodynamic theories very often describe alcohol addiction using the assumptions of attachment theory and self-psychology. According to them, addiction is treated as a response to failure in building a relationship with another person, as well as a response to self-injury. It seems that the use of psychodynamic understanding in therapeutic work with an alcohol-dependent patient may be a useful complement to the cognitive-behavioral approach, which dominates in the treatment of addiction. In addition, the psychodynamic concepts seem to be useful due to the fact that alcohol addiction coexists with other mental disorders, in particular with personality disorders. Researchers underline that there is evidence of significant links between alcohol use and addiction and personality disorders; the latter are believed to be common among people with alcohol addiction.