Author: Batya Yaniger, PsyD

December 8th, 2019

The sixth strategy for connecting with conscience is: Listen to Other Opinions Listening is a big problem in the world today. We are not receptive to hearing a different viewpoint. Dissent has become taboo. We need to be willing and capable of hearing other people’s opinions because it helps us connect to our conscience.  What does conscience have to do with listening to the opinions of others? Isn’t conscience about listening to …
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Author: Batya Yaniger, PsyD

December 1st, 2019

The fifth long-term strategy for how to cultivate a relationship with conscience is: Be a Participant of Life Conscience tells you how to relate to what is happening at any given moment. The intuitive sense of ‘right response’ implies a relationship between ‘me’ and ‘other.’ You are not an alien from outer space, even though you might feel that way at times. You belong here, and you have a unique role to play. …
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Author: Batya Yaniger, PsyD

November 24th, 2019

Strategy #4 for strengthening relationship with conscience: Focus on what is important. People who suffer from schizophrenia hear voices in their head. Actually, we all hear voices. We just don’t speak their messages out loud. We don’t act on them. We know that they are not a true reflection of reality.  But the running commentary is there all the time. Knowing that these thoughts are not worth taking seriously does not mean you …
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Author: Batya Yaniger, PsyD

November 17th, 2019

In the quest for deeper meaning, we often forget to pay attention to the obvious. Frankl posits, ‘The therapist should enable the patient to see the world as it is.’ Why do we ignore the obvious? For one thing, we are blind to the reality in front of us because we are immersed in the reality that is within us. This includes everything that preoccupies us and prevents us from being present: beliefs, emotional reactivity, misperceptions …
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Author: Batya Yaniger, PsyD

November 10th, 2019

The second strategy for how to develop a relationship with your conscience and be happier about your decisions is to tell yourself the truth. In the smallest of ways catch yourself when you are lying to yourself. Is this in my best interest? For example, do I really want to go there? Is this depleting me? Am I treating myself with respect? Am I ignoring reality and pretending my behavior won’t have a detrimental effect? Does my behavior ma …
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Author: Batya Yaniger, PsyD

November 3rd, 2019

Mrs. B, a woman in the early fifties, has been plagued by anxiety for decades. Her mother was diagnosed with schizophrenia and she grew up as a neglected, unwanted, unloved child. She is married with six children and seems to have a good life, but her anxiety creates a multitude of problems for herself and in her relationships. She experiences heart palpitations, tightness in her chest and irregular breathing. To escape these sensations, she star …
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Author: Batya Yaniger, PsyD

October 27th, 2019

There are lots of tiny decisions we all make every day. What is the best thing to do? What would make you happy with yourself looking back at the end of your life? These are the kinds of questions logotherapy addresses. Is there a way you can know which will be the most satisfying and meaningful choice? We can address the question in one of two ways: in the moment and long term. In the moment, you can be still and listen, and you will hear and in …
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Author: Batya Yaniger, PsyD

September 23rd, 2019

Often in therapy you are educating the client to adopt a different perspective. One aspect to logoeducation is teaching the client to put the spotlight on meanings and values, rather than on one’s self-concerns. Self-absorption is very much of a therapeutic issue.  People who are depressed are self-absorbed. People who are paying excessive attention to themselves are incapable of getting over their stage fright. And so on.    …
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Author: Batya Yaniger, PsyD

September 15th, 2019

The three phases of therapy are diagnosis, therapy and follow-up. In the first phase, diagnosis, the therapist asks lots of questions and identifies the problem. Gathering information helps to formulate a plan of what to do. The down side is that the same questions that give the therapist a better picture of the problem actually adds to the client’s despair and depression. The reason for this is that the client has been thinking obsessively …
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Author: Batya Yaniger, PsyD

September 9th, 2019

There is power to our choices. The Talmud describes a perspective of wisdom, of prophecy and of God on what happens to the sinner. Firstly, what is a sin? Tradition teaches that it is like shooting an arrow at a target and missing the mark. We are endowed as human beings with the desire for greatness, and instead we act shamefully. We are endowed with the desire to be helpful and instead we are hurtful. We want to empower and we dis-empower. We w …
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