Dr. Arthur Blouin 

Dr. Arthur Blouin began studying Psychology in 1970.  He graduated from Carleton University with an Honours B.A. in Psychology in 1974 and continued at Carleton University to complete his Master's Degree in Psychology  in 1976.  In 1973, he was awarded a prestigious scholarship from the National Health and Welfare Research Development Program for his research in the non-medical use of drugs.  From 1973 until 1975 he was a research assistant in the Neuropsychology Laboratory of the Royal Ottawa Hospital.  He began his Ph.D. studies in Neuropsychology at the University of Ottawa in 1976 and completed his Doctorate in 1980.  During this time he received a second National Health and Welfare Research Scholarship which resulted in research published on the important topic of the follow-up of Attention Deficit Hyperactive children and their risk of alcohol use. This work was published in the Journal of Pediatric Child Psychology.  He completed his Doctoral Clinical Internship at the Royal Ottawa Hospital in 1978.  

Upon completion of his Doctorate, Dr. Blouin was awarded a Post Doctoral Fellowship from the Ontario Mental Health Foundation to further his studies in Health Psychology at George Washington University in Washington D.C. Here he studied under the eminent Professor Keith C. Conners, author of the widely used Conners Rating Scales for childhood behavior problems.  In 1981, he became an Assistant professor at George Washington University and continued to work with Professor Conners as Associate Director of the Laboratory of Behavioral Medicine at the Children's Hospital National Medical Center, Washington D.C. until 1983.

Dr. Blouin returned to Ottawa in 1983 as Psychologist at the Ottawa Civic Hospital.  In 1985 he became the Director of Research in the Department of Psychiatry and Clinical Lecturer in the Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine at the University of Ottawa.  He was appointed as an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Medicine in 1987 and has been an Associate Professor since 1992.  He was an adjunct Professor in Psychology at Carleton University from 1984 until 1996.  He became Director of Psychology at the Ottawa Civic Hospital in 1988, a position he held until 1995.  

Through his research, which has resulted in over 40 publications in international journals, and applied work, Dr. Blouin has gained international recognition.  He was cross appointed as a Lecturer in the Department of Psychiatry at Columbia University in New York City, as a result of his work on diagnostic assessment.  He has been involved in numerous international clinical research projects.  He has published widely in the area of eating disorders and has been consulted widely in the development of Eating Disorder Programs in Hospitals across the province. 

While at the Ottawa Civic Hospital, Dr. Blouin was instrumental in establishing a number of important clinical services including the Neuropsycholgy Service, the Ottawa Eating Disorder Clinic, (co-founded with Dr. Jane Blouin and Dr. Jane Barlow) and the Stress Management Clinic, (co-founded with Dr. Jane Blouin).  In his role as Director of Psychology, Dr. Blouin was dedicated to providing the highest quality care.  He brought to the hospital, luminaries in the field such as Dr. Christine Padesky, a colleague of Dr. Aaron Beck well known for her ability to teach Cognitive Behavior Therapy.  Dr. Padesky was brought to the Department to present clinical seminars in Cognitive Behavior Therapy and to meet in training sessions with the Psychology staff.  In the interest of developing the Stress Management Clinic, he brought Dr. David Clark from Oxford University (a world leader in the treatment of Anxiety Disorders with Cognitive Behavior Therapy) to similarly present clinical training seminars and to meet with staff to assist in developing programs for the treatment of Anxiety Disorders in the Stress Management Clinic.  

Dr. Blouin has pursued his own personal training in Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), attending private professional training seminars with Dr. Padesky and her colleague Dr. Kathleen Mooney at their offices in California. He has also pursued intensive training with Dr. Albert Ellis one of the founders of Cognitive Therapy  who termed his version of Cognitive Therapy, 'Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy' or REBT.  Having taken intensive training courses at the Albert Ellis Institute in Manhattan, Dr. Blouin has achieved Advanced Certification in REBT therapy and is able to apply all of this training to his current clincal work.  

Since 1995, Dr. Blouin has dedicated himself to clinical work at Blouin & Blouin & Associates and the Ottawa Eating Disorder Clinic where he continues to act as a co-director.  He provides assessment and treatment services in the areas of depression, anxiety, eating disorders, behavior and psycho-educational problems of children, relationship problems, parent effectiveness training and personality problems.  He is known for his ability to relate well with clients with understanding and unconditional acceptance.  He is expert at conceptualizing complex problems, and is also known for providing concrete, clear collaborative and supportive guidance when addressing complex problems.  He uses a number of the practices and principles of Cognitive Therapy in both individual and group sessions.

Dr. Blouin has for many years also been very active in the community.  In addition to his professional role consulting with numerous organizations, he has been involved in youth sport.  He has been instrumental in developing an equestrian center where provincially sanctioned competitions have been held and he has been one of the principle organizers of these successful events.  Over the years he has coached Little League competitive baseball, minor hockey and, for the past 6 years, competitive basketball as a Level II coach.  He obtained a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and taught classes in the employee fitness program at the Ottawa Civic Hospital.  

Dr. Blouin has been happily married to Dr. Jane Blouin for 27 years. Together they have raised 3 wonderful children.  They live on a farm property outside of Ottawa.  They both draw on many of their varied personal experiences while helping clients meet the challenges of change through Cognitive Therapy.