Marvin S. Beitner, Ph.D.

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Which Type of Therapist is best for you?

For information about choosing between a psychologist, marriage counselor, psychiatrist, psychotherapist, hypnotist, hypnotherapist, or clinical social worker, see Types of psychotherapists. Also see Orange County Psych Assn for helpful information about choosing a psychotherapist and about the different training and expertise psychologists, marriage counselors and psychiatrists.

Psychologist

Learn about the difference between a psychologist and a psychiatrist, as well as how to check on the license of a psychologist, and the differences between a Ph.D. and an M.D. degree.

Marriage/Couples Counselor 

Get information about marriage counseling, couples therapy, about getting help with relationship problems and how to enhance and improve communication, empathy and emotional satisfaction in personal relationships.

Hypnotherapy

Learn about the difference between hypnosis and hypnotherapy and the uses of these procedures. It answers common questions about how hypnosis works and addresses  misconceptions and fears about hypnotherapy. An experienced and well qualified psychologist may be able to use hypnotherapy to help you control symptoms of panic attacks, fears or phobias. Hypnosis may also be useful to help a person to stop smoking, to lose weight or to control chronic pain. Fear of flying or driving, fear of public speaking, test anxiety, improved motivation for academic, sports and work performance are other possible applications of hypnosis.

Executive & Life Coaching

Learn about maximizing your level of functioning, achieving your full potential and making positive changes in professional, career, or work related areas or in personal and life-style areas. Executive coaching, career coaching  and life coaching involve a process related to, but not the same as mentoring.  It is a method of enhancing optimal functioning in an achievement oriented, well functioning person, not a method of treatment of emotional problems.

Check Qualifications

Do you have questions about selecting a psychologist? This page gives information about how to check the qualifications of a psychologist, psychiatrist, marriage counselor or psychotherapist: 

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Recognizing Symptoms

Here you will get information about how to identify various symptoms of emotional distress, including panic attacks, anxiety, fears, phobias, depression, and obsessive compulsive disorders (OCD). You will also find information about tranquilizers, medications for anxiety, for ADHD and other problems here.

Panic Attacks & Anxiety

This link provides more specific information about common symptoms of anxiety and panic attacks, including shortness of breath, heart palpitations, agoraphobia, feelings of faintness, other physical symptoms, and fears of flying or driving and feeling as if you are about to die.

Eating Disorders

This link provides information about anorexia and bulimia. Anorexia is the opposite of compulsive over-eating. It occurs most commonly in teenaged girls, but can affect other age groups and males as well. Anorexics “look fat” to themselves no matter how much weight they lose. They go on perpetual starvation diets and sometimes exercise excessively. Bulimics overeat and then secretly vomit or use laxatives in attempt to lose weight. Both of these conditions represent serious health threats and can be life-threatening. 

Children and Teenagers

This link provides information about dealing with problems of childhood and adolescence. Excessive fears in social situations, low self-esteem, depression, problems with authority figures, rebelliousness, poor academic performance, school phobias, alcohol and drug abuse problems are issues that may be involved.  

Self Improvement

This link will give you information about enhancement of healthy psychological function,  improving self esteem and strengthening  motivation and confidence. Improving work performance, social skills, academic performance and competitive sports performance are issues that psychologists can address.

Self Help Books

This link will give you information about educational reading material that may help you with various psychological issues and problems.

Multiple Personality – Dissociative Identity Disorder

This link provides addresses misconceptions about multiple personality, bi-polar disorder and schizophrenia. Included is information about the recovery of repressed memories of sexual abuse.

Sexual Problems

This link information about reduced sexual desire, impotence, premature ejaculation, sexual compulsions, addictions to pornography, confusion in sexual identification, childhood sexual abuse and other types of sexual dysfunctions.

Stop Smoking

This link provides information about designing a hypnotic procedure the use of hypnosis, a stop smoking procedure using two office visits and a recording of a personalized hypnotic procedure that you can use at home to stop smoking.

Weight Control

Here you find out about how I provide a structured,  four office visit form of psychological intervention using hypnosis and behavior modification to help you lose weight. I make a recording of a hypnotic procedure designed to fit your motivation and personality. The hypnosis is done during an office visit and recorded for your continued use at home. It provides information about the “yo-yo” effect that causes people to typically regain all the weight that they have lost on a seemingly successful diet program.

Pain Control

This link gives you information about the use of hypnotherapy and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for relief of chronic pain.

Intelligence Tests, Memory Tests and Learning Disabilities

This link provides information about how you can find out about your intelligence quotient, (IQ or I.Q.) This page also provides information about testing for memory impairment, age related memory loss, short term and long term memory loss and concerns about Alzheimer’s disease. It also provides information about Learning disabilities. Tests discussed include the Wechsler Adult Intelligence  Scale IV (WAIS IV), the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children IV,  (WISC IV), the Wechsler Memory Scale III (WMS III) and the Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Achievement (WJIII).

Gay, Lesbian and Transgender Support

This provides information about Gay, Lesbian and Transgender, Transvestite and Transsexual issues.  It clarifies the distinctions between these terms and discusses some general and special issues involved in psychotherapeutic treatment and counseling encountered because of social and family pressures.

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Psychology News

Here you can find some information about events that have been in the news and publications in psychology. Is the HBO series In Treatment a good representation of how psychotherapy really works? What about the issue of attraction to a patient and how it is handled in this series? See Psychology News about this. There is also information there about how the old Dr. Phil – Britney Spears controversy relates to “long distance analysis” of people in the news.