The mission of Dare-to-Dream.us is to (1) advance the knowledge of consumers of mental health services to empower them to to assess the quality and accessibility of mental health services, (2) to disseminate to the general public comments from a mental health professional's perspective on mental health news, and (3) to share information with other professionals. None of the information contained on this site should be considered a replacement for professional services offered face-to-face by licensed mental health professionals.
Gazing in the Looking Glass without Self-punishment - Emotional Intelligence ...
19 Jul 2010 at 9:38 pmThis is the seventh in a series of articles about emotional intelligence for personal growth.
Many people are unsure what they feel. Some deny feeling anything at all. Others report boredom much of the time and seek reckless excitement when they can. Still others have never felt like they fit in. They may have experienced being ignored, picked on, or even being treated like scapegoat. Others seem
More Mentally Ill Persons Are in Jails and Prisons Than Hospitals: A Survey o...
18 Jul 2010 at 10:53 pm
Image by RightBrainPhotography via Flickr
Unfortunately, this headline is very true. And it's not because the mentally ill are more likely to commit crimes. In fact they are no more likely and often less likely to commit crimes than the general population.
You might wonder, why are they in jail? The reason appears to be that though they are very much in need of treatment, they are not getting it.
... read more
The Two Darts of Suffering: Pain is Inevitable, Suffering is Voluntary Emoti...
9 May 2010 at 8:36 pmThis is the sixth in a series of articles about emotional intelligence for personal growth. In keeping with the idea that emotional intelligence is one of the foundational concepts of mental health, I dedicate this installment to May, Mental Health Month.
It is often said that life is suffering. Some of that suffering is unavoidable. Life has a way of throwing us adversity. The pain of physical d
... read more
The Essence of Human Experience: What is Normal? Emotional Intelligence for P...
9 Apr 2010 at 2:49 pmThis is the fifth in a series of articles on Emotional Intelligence for Personal Growth.
Probably all of us have asked our self from time to time if our thoughts, feelings, or behavior at any single moment is "normal". Actually, there are different answers for each one of these.
Normal behavior is, like it or not, defined by our legal, community (family, neighborhood, social group) and religious
... read more
Dan Gilbert: Why are we happy? Why aren't we happy?
7 Apr 2010 at 1:53 pm... read more
Buddha's Brain: The Neuro-science of Self-help
21 Mar 2010 at 5:57 pmI've been a skeptic about self-help books as have many of my colleagues. Self-help concepts often represent the home grown philosophy of the author. Seldom is there comprehensive research documentation of the foundations of the concepts shared. And so you can never be sure you are reading something that applies real science to every day needs.
Cover via Amazon
This book is an exception. Buddha
... read more
Self-Knowledge - Emotional Intelligence For Personal Growth Part IV
12 Mar 2010 at 8:30 pmThis is the fourth in a series of articles on emotional intelligence for personal growth.
Self-knowledge is something we all strive towards. But how many of us have done a complete review of our emotions 
and how they influence our thoughts and behavior? Most people find that pretty hard to do, especially since they struggle to put their feelings into words. We talk about "will power" as the ultim
TED Blog:Jonathan Haidt on how our moral roots skew our reasoning
13 Feb 2010 at 1:15 amTED Blog:Jonathan Haidt on how our moral roots skew our reasoning
"Our Righteous Minds were designed to unite us into teams, divide us against others, & blind us to the truth -Jon Haidt http://bit.ly/9N7TyU"
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_c.png?x-id=73b958af-bb69-4ea1-ba1a-9b9f2f2e989c)
Living together? Put it in writing
31 Jan 2010 at 1:58 pmThis is good advice for those who forgo the formality of marriage to live together. This advice applies all romantic couples who have children, financial, and/or assets or other shared valued items.
freep.com | Detroit Free Press
Image via Wikipedia
"People go into these relationships out of love, but they don't use their heads," says Pamela Radzinski, a Southfield divorce and family law attorney
Self-Awareness - Emotional Intelligence For Personal Growth Part III
17 Jan 2010 at 4:12 pmThis is the third in a series of articles on emotional intelligence for personal growth.
Self-awareness is one of the most important benefits we get from spending time in a mindful state. The longer we are able to stay mindful, the more we learn about our selves. We come to recognize the ebb and flow of our thoughts, moods, emotions and impulses. We begin to see relationships between our thoughts
Mindfulness - Emotional Intelligence for Personal Growth Part II
14 Jan 2010 at 10:39 pm
This is the second in a series of articles on emotional intelligence for personal growth. The first part is here.
Mindfulness is a non-judgmental, present-centered awareness in which each thought, feeling, or sensation that arises is acknowledged and accepted as it is. It is a skill that is learned by committed practice. The object is to focus one's attention on thoughts, feelings and events in
... read more
Emotional Intelligence for Personal Growth Part I
9 Jan 2010 at 8:52 pmThis is the first in a series of articles on the topic of emotional intelligence for personal growth.
I got this quote in one of those anonymous emails that has been forwarded through thousands of inboxes all over the planet:
"Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting '..holy sh*t ....what a ride!' Enjo
Poll Reveals Depth and Trauma of Joblessness
15 Dec 2009 at 8:37 pmVery sad and difficult times for people in this economy. Those who are still working are waiting for the next lay-off notice. Small businesses are struggling to make ends meet. Worse yet the unemployed are at their wits end. Virtually everyone I see in my practice these days are seeking treatment directly or indirectly because of the economy.
Another hidden part of the drama is that the unemploy
... read more
Regina Brett, 90 years young
19 Nov 2009 at 2:03 pm
This was written by Regina Brett, 90 years old, of The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, Ohio.
Image by patricia.mg via Flickr
"To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It
is the most-requested column I've ever written.
My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more:
1. Life isn't fair,
Barriers, Behaviors, Sub-cultures and the Homeless Population
21 Oct 2009 at 9:12 amI really enjoy reading the blog Kellevision.com. She says it like it is and seldom misses the point of what she's writing about. She identifies a problem in programming for homelessness and proposes a set of concepts to help clarify the situation.
Image via Wikipedia "Many of the "barriers" faced by the chronically homeless are not external. They are self-inflicted. Repeatedly failing to pay one
... read more
Sandra Bullock Sick of Society's Rules, Has Message For Little Girls
15 Oct 2009 at 12:50 pmSandra Bullock makes some very solid points about the continued double moral standard between men and women in our society. It is only by repeated public statements will the culture begin to shift.
However, she missed the universal point. I don't think a young boy would escape the slash of verbal harassment about having a lisp. While there is a natural push for social culture to demand a certain
... read more
Did A "Self-help" Course Lead to Woman's Suicide?
10 Oct 2009 at 2:50 pmTonight the New York Times reported on very sad story about an Australian woman who went to a self-help course called Turning Point with her husband in hopes of improving their marriage. Over the next few days, according to her husband, her behavior became increasingly strange until without warning, she jumped out of her office window and successfully committed suicide while stunned paramedics wat
... read more
Be Afraid: TV is Our Childrens' Nanny
27 Sep 2009 at 1:00 pmMany of the boomer adults were raised with a lot of TV. It would appear things have gotten worse. We know a lot more about what TV does to children, but it doesn't appear to have had much effect. Simple logic will tell us that the experience of TV will decrease a child's ability to tolerate a delay in gratification of desires. Certainly, the TV ads are designed to create the desire for things we d
... read more
Generics versus Brands: Are They Really the Same?
21 Sep 2009 at 9:53 pmThis is a topic that gets scant attention leaving the consuming public largely in the dark. Even though I work in the field, I've not hear this information except from my own reading. Fortunately, SSRIs are not as susceptible to problems crossing from brands to generics or between generics. But buproprion in other forms may not be as good as Wellbutrin.
Image via WikipediaMedical News "Antidepre
... read more
Boundaries and Safety for the New Social Media
4 Sep 2009 at 4:59 pmWe've all heard about viruses and websites that steal our sensitive private information. Cyberstalking has also become a problem on social media sites. Blogs, Twitter, MySpace and Facebook, in particular, are prone to this sort of abuse. 
Image by luc legay via FlickrBut even cellphone texting can be a problem since you can forward others details where ever you want. Although there are mixed review
... read more
The shy connector
22 Aug 2009 at 2:09 pmAre you shy? Find networking very difficult? Rather stay at home, or watch from a distance? Here is a great slide set and blog post from Sacha Chua. Check it out:
The Shy ConnectorView more documents from Sacha Chua.
... read more
The Shy ConnectorView more documents from Sacha Chua.
Stigma: Time To Change
10 Aug 2009 at 9:14 pmTime To Change
The stigma about Schizophrenia is huge. Popular media exploits the topic for ratings, not necessarily to better inform the public. Often the results more misinform rather than educate.
A different kind of stigma has a problem within the mental health industry. Up until a couple of decades ago, new practitioners were trained to believe that people with schizophrenia get worse with
... read more
Harsh Punishment Backfires: Psychologists Offer Ways To Improve Prison Enviro...
10 Aug 2009 at 1:43 pmWe spend billions on imprisoning the largest proportion of our population than any other nation. Too many of those imprisoned are petty drug offenders. In prison, they some learn how to be more effective criminals and then are turned loose to re-offend. Too many are very young.
Petty drug offenders often need CD treatment, not prison. Many are simply supporting the habit that keeps them from a mo
... read more
Living Longer. And Better
7 Aug 2009 at 3:06 pmPsychology Today - Meaning of Life Blog reports on a research study documents support for a widely held assumption about mental health.
"People who felt most strongly that their lives were meaningful were roughly 40% less likely to die than people who felt most strongly that their lives were meaningless. Regardless of whether people were younger or older (within the range examined in this study
Sexist Jokes May Be Linked to Domestic Violence
29 Jul 2009 at 10:58 pm
Image by angela7dreams via FlickrI tripped over an article at Psych Central News describing some recent research on sexist humor. "...those who had listened to sexist jokes were much more tolerant with male battering than those who had not."
The results ring true. I have found domestic violence, even street violence is justified in the mind of the offender by disrespect. People in general tend
... read more
Stars Are Just Like Other Women
20 Jul 2009 at 11:57 pmA fashion piece called "Celebrities Without Makeup" can make an effective social education for young girls at risk for eating disorders. I first saw something like this from a ad put together by Dove Campaign for Real Beauty and posted about it.
Related articles by Zemanta Eating Disorders in Middle-Age Increasing (diet-blog.com) Eating Disorders Can Strike at Any Age (shoppingblog.com) Kids
... read more
Finding Meaning in Research
12 Jul 2009 at 8:51 pm
Image via Wikipedia
I very much enjoyed recent exchange on Psychotherapy Brown Bag. I find myself frequently thinking of the implications of our approach to research and how it contributes to our understanding of psychology.
"Intuition is, by no means, useless. A half-century ago, Karl Popper (1959) gave an answer to this that today remains powerfully compelling. Intuition, inductive reasonin ... read more
Dr Wayne Dyer - There Are No Justified Resentments
2 Jul 2009 at 12:13 amA powerful message that I believe is true. Remember the old idea that a dog can smell fear? I think that a clear headed, alert human can sense ill will in another.
Hat tip to @changeseeker
Positive Thoughts Make Things Worse for Poor Self-Esteem??
29 Jun 2009 at 11:19 pm
Image via Wikipedia
I caught this article at Psychcentral.com, Positive Thoughts Make Things Worse for Poor Self-Esteem . It struck me as a counter-intuitive finding for a research study. I've been helping clients build self-esteem for over 30 years and while positive thoughts is not a short road to better self-esteem, it certainly does work over the long run. I'd estimate that at least six mont
... read more
5 Steps To a More Meaningful Life
24 Jun 2009 at 3:02 pmGreat little exercise on Mindfulness from PsychCentral.com
By Elisha Goldstein, Ph.D.
June 24, 2009
....Here is a process I created and did a national research study around to help us cultivate more of these meaningful moments.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_c.png?x-id=d5c50266-9e13-4c72-9436-eacd82a65284)
... read more