Dr. Robert Saltzman, Ph.D.
the world's number one ask the psychologist website
If interested, send an email request for an appointment, mentioning briefly your reason for wanting a consultation, and your times of availability.
© 2007 Robert Saltzman
First, the site aims at providing up-to-date, useful information about mental, emotional, and physical healing, counseling and psychotherapy, philosophical awareness, self-understanding, and spiritual unfoldment.
Second, the site provides information about Dr. Saltzman's counseling services which are open to anyone in the Todos Santos, La Paz, Cabo San Lucas, Baja California, Mexico area who may benefit from professional counseling or therapy.
And last, but certainly not least, this site is the home of ask dr. robert, the world's most popular ask the psychologist webpage, an email question and answer forum available to everyone, worldwide, at no charge.
By the way, I would like to apologize to the many people who have sent questions and still are waiting to hear from me. When I began this website in 2004, my intention was to provide useful advice on mental/emotional/physical healing, psychotherapy, philosophical awareness, self-understanding, and spiritual unfoldment for those who otherwise might not have access to my training and point of view, that of an experienced clinical psychologist and psychotherapist. I am happy to say that the site has been successful. In these past years I have received thousands of questions from all over the planet, and have replied to hundreds of them--some here on the site, and many others privately. Due to its popularity, the site comes up in first place in a google search for "ask psychologist," and the site receives many hundreds of visitors daily.
Unfortunately, the very success of this website means that more and more questions must go unaddressed. My inbox is simply jammed with letters to "Dr. Robert"--so jammed in fact that I cannot even read all of them fully, much less reply. Even if I did not have my psychotherapy practice and other work to attend to, I still would not be able to deal fully with this volume of mail. Evidently a significant number of people from all over the world want and need psychological advice and are finding it here. But I can do only what time allows, and so I will never be able fully to address the needs of everyone who visits this site. For that I am sorry.
If you are preparing to send me a question, it will stand a much better chance of being read and answered if you keep your letter short and to the point, leaving out unnecessary background, and simply asking what it is you most want to ask. Honestly, when I open an email and find many hundreds of rambling words about minor details staring me in the face, I often just move on to the next letter. Not that I don't care--for I do feel and understand the pain and worry which underlies most of the letters I receive--but my time is limited, and I am forced to choose. I am doing the best I can to keep up, so please help by paring down your words to the minimum, and leaving out unnecessary detail. Thanks.
Your letter will be received better if you write it in the best style you can. Pay attention to spelling and grammar. This is not informal email, but a formal letter which may be published on this website for all to read. The more time I have to spend correcting your writing the less time I have for replies. Please do not use ellipses (dot, dot, dot) . . . . If English is not your native language, don't worry. I will understand.
- How Do I Help My Son Who Is a Sociopath (Psychopath)?
- Is It Possible To Have Both Unipolar and Biopolar Depression?
- Help! I Am Lonely and Suicidal.
- Was This an Hallucination? Could I Be Psychotic?
- How Do I Help My Boyfriend Who Has Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD)?
- Could Xanax Be Robbing Me Of My Emotions?
- I Have Been Cheating On My Husband. Should I Confess?
- I Am a Psychopath.
Dr. Saltzman has provided counseling services for the communities of Todos Santos, Cabo San Lucas, and La Paz, Baja California since 1995. His reputation for honesty, sensitivity, and successful outcomes, both in the Mexican community as well as among expatriates, is excellent. To arrange an appointment in Todos Santos for personal counseling send an email request for an appointment, mentioning briefly your reason for wanting a consultation, and your hours of availability.
One common reason for consulting a psychotherapist seems worthy of urgent special mention here. Both through extensive clinical experience with depression, as well as his reading of the most recent research into depression, Dr. Saltzman is convinced that depression, a disease which, if left untreated, can damage the brain, and other nerve cells, as well as the heart, endocrine glands, and even, according to depression expert Peter Kramer, M.D., the bones of the body, too often is left untreated or is approached without regard to the lastest scientific findings.
If you suspect that you or someone you care for may be suffering from depression, please read am I depressed?, which deals with brain chemistry and depression, and discusses the proper treatment of depression with medication and/or psychotherapy.
Those of you who have visited dr-robert.com before will know that Dr. Saltzman suggests careful attention to diet, as well as daily aerobic exercise, not just for physical health, but for improved emotional health too. In other words, he believes that mood disorders such as anxiety and depression should be not treated with medication and talk therapy alone, but rather with a combination of psychotherapy, medication (if necessary), properly chosen food and drink, daily aerobic exercise, and other healthy choices. Often, this kind of combination treatment can improve mood and mental outlook without resorting to pharmaceutical treatment at all, or, even if treatment with antidepressant or anxiolytic medications should be necessary, may reduce the dosages necessary as well as the length of time such medicines are needed.
In addition, a growing body of scientific evidence suggests that finding happiness in life can improve physical health in profound ways. In other words, mental health (insight and philosophical well-being), emotional health (happiness, contentment, and gratitude), and physical health (a sound body) are simply various aspects of a total state of being--the human being--and all three must be considered together in the course of any effective therapy
Increasing the proportion of certain micronutrients in the diet can sometimes make dramatic changes in how one feels both physically and emotionally, and can often reduce the incidence of serious disease. A recent study, published in The Journal of the American Medical Association, suggests that one specific approach to diet, the so-called Mediterranean diet, probably is optimal for most people. If you have not been feeling well, please begin self-treatment by adopting some of Dr. Saltzman's dietary recommendations.
If you you have questions or concerns that you have wanted to ask a psychologist--whether about lifestyle changes, about counseling and psychotherapy, about spirituality and spiritual unfoldment, or just about human life in general-- send an email for publication on the "ask the psychologist" page. Your question may be signed or unsigned as you prefer, but please state your age, and say where you live. If your question is urgent, and if you do not receive a reply within a week or two, please consider finding a local therapist to help. Sorry, but Dr. Saltzman simply cannot reply fully to the large volume of questions he has been receiving daily.
Please be aware that the information on this website is not intended to replace the personal relationship between patient and physician or therapist, and that Dr. Saltzman's replies to "ask the psychologist" questions are not a substitute for psychotherapy or consultation with a physician.
To arrange an appointment in Todos Santos for personal counseling send an email request for an appointment, mentioning briefly your reason for wanting a consultation, and your hours of availability. Address comments, whether about the website, or anything else to the same address.
Sponsorship and Privacy:
www.dr-robert.com contains no advertising of any kind, and is edited and supported solely by Dr. Robert Saltzman, Ph.D., Box 75, Todos Santos, Baja California Sur, Mexico, 23305, as a source of information about his counseling practice, and about mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being in general.
www.dr-robert.com does not collect information about visitors to this web site for any reason whatsoever. If you elect to share your email address by sending a comment or a question for "ask dr-robert," your email address is never given to any other organization or individual.
If you submit a question to "ask dr-robert," you agree that your question, along with Dr. Saltzman's reply, may be published on the website or elsewhere.
All writing and images on this website are the intellectual property of Dr. Robert Saltzman, subject to copyright protection. Any use of these materials without prior written permission is expressly forbidden.
The information on this website is not intended to replace the personal relationship between patient and physician or therapist. Indeed, there is absolutely no substitute for such a relationship, so if you are troubled, please get the personal counseling you need.