The sensational question that is often asked by Christians when considering Carl Jung is:

Was he communing with demons?

And I get it, he describes his conversations with the character Philemon in his book Memories, Dreams, Reflections saying, “It was he who spoke, not I.” The problem is he also states, “At times he seemed to me quite real.” With Jung’s unique psychologized mysticism, it is difficult to determine exactly what this figure was. I really don’t think we can conclude either way.

Regardless, I think the real question which underlies this is:

Can we listen to anything he proposes which came out of these visions?

In this episode, I trace several accounts of demon activity described in scripture to argue that the boring and perhaps frustrating truth is that we need to test the spirits against the Word of God.

I then begin to do just that by walking through the Liber Primus section of The Red Book including:

* The spirit of the depths vs. the spirit of the times

* The soul as a “self-existing being”

* The murder of the hero, and Jung’s claim that Christ descended into hell and became the Antichrist

* Elijah and Salome, and the claim that the holy and unholy are one

Stay tuned for part two which will cover Liber Segundus and The Scrutinies.

My episode which describes the levels of explanation approach to spiritual and psychological phenomena:

A free pdf of The Red Book: https://archive.org/details/carl-gustav-jung-the-red-book-liber-novu

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Can we as Christians learn anything from Carl Jung without accepting his mysticism?

I answer this question by establishing the timeline of his life and ideas, the methods he used to develop them, and the many streams of influence which fed into his larger theory. Prepare to dive into Victorian spiritualism, a sordid affair, and how Jung’s early optimism for Nazism gave way to providing psychological profiles of Hitler which proved useful to Allied war efforts. Finally, I propose that Jung’s various epistemologies at certain periods of his life can give us common ground on which to evaluate his ideas.

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Music by Douglas Hageman https://doughageman.bandcamp.com/

Carl Jung often expounded on scripture and held Christianity to be the truest religion. For example, he once stated, “Among all my patients in the second half of life—that is to say, over thirty-five—there has not been one whose problem in the last resort was not that of finding a religious outlook on life. …and none of them has been really healed who did not regain his religious outlook.” And many Christians are attracted to his work via his descendant, Jordan Peterson. Yet while his work in psychology has proven to be wise and helpful, he makes several claims with theological significance which pose a danger to both the soul of the Christian and to the soul of the atheist.

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Dr. Tanya Paynter, naturopathic doctor and apologist, explores the role doubt can play in physical and mental health. Her own crisis of faith and chronic illnesses illustrate the intricate relationship between body, mind and soul. She wrestles with the tension often felt between faith and science, between eastern worldviews and western holistic practices, and between the medical establishment and snake oil treatments. Her unique expertise in both medicine and apologetics gives her an insightful angle on discerning health claims with spiritual significance.

Dr. Tanya Paynter’s Podcast, The Christian Clinician https://www.psalmmedical.com/podcast

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Music by Douglas Hageman https://doughageman.bandcamp.com/

As a millennial parent, my reels are inundated with clips giving suggestions on how to heal one’s attachment wounds while also learning to parent one’s own children. It is easy to critique the limited sound-bites that often serve to infantilize the person and exacerbate bitterness and hurt but in this episode, I dive into the actual theory underlying the concept of reparenting. I offer a fair-minded critique based on theology and clinical experience followed by the story of my own grandparents: two people from deeply broken homes who chose a radically different sort of healing leaving a radically different legacy for their children.

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Music by Douglas Hageman https://doughageman.bandcamp.com/

Somatic therapy has grown rapidly in popularity for the treatment of trauma and other mental health conditions. However many Christians are suspicious of this form of therapy. Is it Eastern spiritualism wrapped up in therapeutic language? On the other hand, many Christians see the powerful effects of this therapy are tempted to accept its underlying explanations without careful examination.

In this second of two episodes, I dive into modern theories of somatic psychology and affirm what they get right and what must be rejected through the lens of science submitted to theology. I then provide practical steps that clinicians and non-clinicians alike can take to evaluate somatic psychology on their own. Theories covered include: Peter Levine, Bessel van der Kolk and Polyvagal Theory.

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Summer Book Club: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1DDNAqji9y/

Speed shooting trained automaticity: https://www.forcescience.com/2022/02/firearms-training-for-real-world-assaults/

Critique of Polyvagal theory’s claims concerning the dorsal and ventral vagus nerves: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301051123001060

Scientific refutation of “The Body Keeps the Score”: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/systems-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnsys.2026.1812957/full

Join the conversation on Substack: https://substack.com/@ashleyhageman

My private practice (Michigan only): https://www.solaceprofessionalcounseling.com/home

Music by Douglas Hageman https://doughageman.bandcamp.com/

Somatic therapy has grown rapidly in popularity for the treatment of trauma and other mental health conditions. However many Christians are suspicious of this form of therapy. Is it Eastern spiritualism wrapped up in therapeutic language? On the other hand, many Christians see the powerful effects this therapy are tempted to accept its underlying explanations without careful examination.

In this first of two episodes, I lay a theological foundation for evaluating the claims of somatic therapy, discuss the well established science behind the body/brain connection, and outline the history of where this therapy really came from. Part two will explore modern forms of somatic therapy and share practical steps to evaluating truth claims in this field.

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Join the conversation on Substack: https://substack.com/@ashleyhageman

My private practice (Michigan only): https://www.solaceprofessionalcounseling.com/home

Music by Douglas Hageman https://doughageman.bandcamp.com/

A body-only, mind-only or spirit-only approach to mental health treatment leads each to an essential failure to effectively promote healing.

In this episode, I discuss heritability studies, the limits of psychopharmacology, the insufficiency of purely cognitive approaches, and the unbiblical shame of over-spiritualization. I argue that we need to understand mental illness as a condition with multi-layered explanations requiring a multi-layered treatment for ourselves, our clients and those we love.

All of this is modeled in God’s response to Elijah’s suicidal episode in the wilderness: God gives rest and food, corrects his thinking and reveals the spiritual reality of his presence.

If you are facing a mental illness yourself, supporting a loved one or treating a client, this conceptual model offers a comprehensive approach to the person. A vision of wholeness rather than convenient reductionism.

Schizophrenia Heritability Study: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14662550/

Depression Medication Efficacy Study: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/5548444_Kirsch_I_Deacon_BJ_Huedo-Medina_TB_Scoboria_A_Moore_TJ_Johnson_BT_Initial_severity_and_antidepressant_benefits_a_meta-analysis_of_data_submitted_to_the_Food_and_Drug_Administration_PLoS_Med_5_260-268

Depression Remission Study: https://www.thecarlatreport.com/articles/4733-stard-reanalysis-causes-new-debate-over-antidepressant-efficacy#:~:text=Study%20type%3A%20Reanalysis%20of%20an,(STAR*D)%20study

Chemical imbalance theory busted: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41380-022-01661-0

Antipsychotic Meds Shrinking Brain Study: https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/antipsychotics-and-shrinking-brain

Efficacy of Antipsychotics: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41784458/#:~:text=SG%20LAI%20users%20showed%20reductions,015)%20days

Vocational outcomes of antipsychotic users: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/396179149_Protocol_for_-_Association_of_antipsychotic_medication_usage_and_employment_outcomes_in_patients_with_schizophrenia_spectrum_disorders_A_Danish_register-based_study

Vitamin D Deficiency Rates: https://faseb.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1096/fasebj.26.1_supplement.1008.1

Conversion disorder Case Study: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9564367/

Misattribution of Arousal Study: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232519630_Passionate_love_and_the_misattribution_of_arousal

Theological Anthropology Applications for Sexual/Physical Abuse Victims and Solace Professional Counseling: https://www.solaceprofessionalcounseling.com/

Understanding Psychology from a Christian Perspective E-Course: https://www.udemy.com/course/psychology-and-christianity/?referralCode=19B7AF26377BF0C154AD

Music by Douglas Hageman https://doughageman.bandcamp.com/