Yitzchak M. "Irv" Binik (born February 6, 1949) is an American-Canadian psychologist whose main research interest is human sexuality, specifically sexual pain (vaginismus and dyspareunia).[1]
The only child of Abraham and Bella Binik, originally from Nowy Lupkow and Lodz respectively, he grew up in Rochester, N.Y. In 1970, Binik earned B.A. in History from New York University and a B.H.L. in Jewish Studies from the Jewish Theological Seminary. He then studied experimental psychopathology and Clinical Psychology at University of Pennsylvania, earning a M.A. in 1972 and a Ph.D. in 1975, following a Clinical Internship at Warneford Hospital's Department of Psychiatry at University of Oxford in 1974-1975. His dissertation was on circadian rhythms and escape learning in the laboratory rat.
He has taught at McGill University since 1975 and has been a full professor since 1992. He coordinates the Sex and Couple Therapy Service of Royal Victoria Hospital, part of the McGill University Health Centre in Montreal. Binik is a fellow of the Canadian Psychological Association and a diplomate of the American Board of Sexology. In 2003 Binik was awarded the Canadian Psychological Association prize for distinguished contribution to professional psychology. In 2006, he received the Masters and Johnson Award for lifetime achievement from the Society for Sex Therapy and Research.
Much of his research has focused on sexual response in women,[2] including women who have experienced menopause.[3] Binik reported that sexual response in women and men was not markedly different in terms of speed.[4][5]
Binik has also studied male sexual response, reporting that circumcision may not affect sensation.[6]
He has written on how sexual pain should be reclassified from a sex disorder to a pain disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.[7] In 2008, Binik was selected for the DSM-V Sexual & Gender Identity Disorders Work Group chaired by Kenneth Zucker.