Linda Banner, Ph.D.

I am licensed as a Marriage and Family Therapist and have a doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology with an emphasis in Health Psychology and a further specialty in Sexual Medicine as a certified Sex Therapist. I have a clinical practice in San Jose, California and do research in sexual medicine at Stanford Medical Center in the area of sexual arousal and brain imaging, utilizing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

I would like to share my professional experience with each of you in order to help you better understand the mind and body connection and the relationship between healthy thinking and healthy relationships. I am in the final stages of my book the "Human Behavior in a Nutshell . . . Understanding the Black Hole in the Soul," and plan to make it available by download by the early part of 2006. Other studies that I am currently working on at Stanford University involve the correlation between sexual medicine and the psychology of the brain.

The word “psychology” conjures up many thoughts and associations in people. Some may get a glimpse of the old “Freudian days” of a bearded man sitting at the end of a sofa with a patient free-associating to him. Others may get a picture of people getting close and personal in the “touchy-feely” days. And, still others may get frightened that psychologists are always analyzing and can see through people's behaviors. My definition of psychology tends to be more broad and human in approach. I believe that we all have the capacity to work toward wellness. My job as a mental health care provider is to help people open those old closet doors; to develop some vulnerability; and, to help them understand more about why they are the way they are so that they can learn to make new, healthier choices for change.

I would like to encourage all of you to participate in my latest study online. It deals with the issue of sexual function and self-esteem. The scores in the survey will let you know how well you are capable of being in your sexual realtionship with your significant other. Click on the blue "Sex & Self Esteem Survey" ad to the left to participate. Your results will be given upon completion of the survey. Thank you in advance for visiting the Better Sex Doc web site.