Author: Batya Yaniger, PsyD

January 12th, 2020

The last four long-term strategies for connecting with conscience are humility, learning from experience, self-examination and self-worth. Conscience is the awareness that we are we are called by life. We are given a task by virtue of the situations we find ourselves in, moment by moment. These four strategies build a growing perceptiveness. Humility brings the awareness that I am here for a reason that is not of my own making. Therefore, I can u …
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Author: Batya Yaniger, PsyD

December 29th, 2019

The ninth strategy for connecting with conscience is to think critically and have humility. We learn this strategy from the rabbis who codified Jewish law. For them, it was not a strategy. It was a way of life. The rabbis of the Talmud, intellectual and spiritual giants, engaged in heated debates over the fine points of the law in order to get to the truth. They examined every possible angle because truth is always bigger than what one person can …
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Author: Batya Yaniger, PsyD

December 22nd, 2019

The eighth strategy for connecting to conscience is gratitude. Gratitude is an attitude of appreciation for everything we have, whatever it is. A constant state of gratitude puts an end to all feelings of entitlement. When I drop all expectations and take nothing for granted, everything is a cause for celebration and joy. In the absence of complaint – ‘I am missing this thing’…’This is not going my way…&rsquo …
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Author: Batya Yaniger, PsyD

December 17th, 2019

The seventh strategy for cultivating a connection with conscience is: Seek out opportunities for kindness. We are living in an age in which we are transitioning slowly but surely away from mind-body separation to mind-body connection. The holistic perspective certainly has an effect on medicine. It also has an effect on psychology. Viktor Frankl broke the paradigm of separation when he rejected the reductionism of psychodynamic psychology and pos …
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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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