Clinical Psychologist

Director

Julie Larouche

Julie Larouche obtained her M.Sc. in 1994 from the Université de Montréal and completed her doctoral studies at Concordia University. She then completed her pre-doctoral internship at the Allan Memorial Institute of Sexual Therapy and Coupling in 2000. She is currently the Director of the Sexual Health Program, a joint project of the Department of Psychology and Urology within which male sexual dysfunction is approached using a multidisciplinary perspective. Her main clinical and research interests are concentrated in the field of sexual medicine. Her doctoral research project is on erectile dysfunction and she has been involved in clinical studies focusing on dyspareunia in women. Her therapeutic orientation is integrative.

Clinical Psychologist

Co-Director

Alina Kao

Dr. Alina Kao received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from McGill University in 2012. She completed her clinical internship at the Sex and Couple Therapy Service and the Cognitive and Behavioural Therapy Unit of the Allan Memorial Institute. Her clinical interests include the integrative assessment and treatment of sexual dysfunction, sexual difficulties associated with physical and mental health problems, and issues related to intimacy, conflict, and life transitions among couples. Her doctoral research focused on dyspareunia in postmenopausal women and has she since participated in numerous studies investigating the manifestations of female dyspareunia during the various phases of reproductive life. Her therapeutic orientation is integrative and evidence-based.

Staff Psychiatrist

Gerald Wiviott

Gerald Wiviott earned his MD from New York University and continued with a degree in psychiatry at McGill University in 1975. Since then, he has been a staff member at the Allan Memorial Institute where he works for the inpatient services and where he teaches residents and medical students. In addition to working for the Sex and Couple Therapy Service, he is in charge of a seminar on existential psychotherapy offered to residents.

Clinical Psychologist

Sabina Sarin

Sabina Sarin is a licensed clinical psychologist, yoga/ mindfulness teacher, and somatic experiencing practitioner. She completed her formal education in clinical psychology and gender studies at the universities of McGill (BSc, Ph.D.) and Yale (MS., MPhil), and her informal education through world travel and non-profit work, spiritual inquiry and practice. Her dissertation research focussed on the distinction between sexual desire and arousal (mind-body connections) in healthy and clinical populations of men and women, as well in a sample of female sex workers. Following completion of her Ph.D., she worked as a Clinical Research Psychologist in the Eating Disorder Unit of the Douglas Hospital, and Associate Professor of Psychiatry at McGill University. After spending 15 years in the academic world, developing experience in researching and treating trauma, sexual and relationship difficulties, eating disorders, and mood disorders, as well as teaching and disseminating information to non-academic communities, she decided to open her own private practice. She has since devoted herself to the practice of psychotherapy and other healing practices (e.g., body work, dance), attempting to weave both western and eastern, mind and body practices into the work that she does. She has a particular sensitivity to struggles related to a disconnection from the body and spirit, and enjoys helping people “get out of their minds and storylines” and back into their bodies, spirits, and lives.

Founder and Emeritus Professor

Irving Binik

Irv Binik earned his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania in 1975. He completed his internship at the Department of Psychiatry at Warneford Hospital in Oxford, England. He is currently Professor in the Department of Psychology at McGill University and Founder of the Sex and Couple Therapy Service at the Allan Memorial Institute. Dr. Binik's research interests focus on disorders of sexual and genital pain. His clinical approach is "agnostic". He recently edited the book, Principles and Practice of Sex Therapy, Fifth Edition.