Using Active Imagination to Heal the Inner Child
by Lyna Tevenaz Jones, M.A., ACMHC
For six years, I immersed myself in one guiding question:
Can we rebuild a positive internal parenting figure?
The answer, I found, is yes.
Not through willpower. Not through insight alone.
But through emotionally vivid, symbolically potent, and neurologically integrative experiences of being seen.
For many of us, the wounds of childhood didn’t just pass—they were absorbed into the fabric of our psyche, rising up unexpectedly in relationships, work, creativity, and sense of self.
The absence of mirroring, the lack of safety, the moments where no one came to say, “I see you, I believe you, I love you”—these moments settle into the nervous system, into the emotional memory, and into the self we grow up believing we are.
Effective psychotherapy can and will always be the main gateway to genuine psychic transformation. And studies also suggest that re-learning, rewiring our psyche into secure attachment is a combination of self-regulation and co-regulation, we need others to co-regulate our nervous system, and we also need to learn to regulate our own system.
In my personal experience and deep studies over the course of my thesis process, I learned that Jungian active imagination can be used as a clinically relevant method for repairing attachment wounds, accessing implicit memory, and restoring a cohesive sense of self.
My findings integrate research from depth psychology, neurobiology, and developmental theory to demonstrate how imaginal experiences can impact emotional regulation, identity formation, and self-concept.
Why Active Imagination?
Carl Jung developed active imagination as a method for accessing the unconscious through dialogue with inner figures, symbolic images, and spontaneous visual content. Unlike cognitive or behavioral interventions, active imagination works on the level of symbolic truth and emotional memory, bypassing rational defenses and engaging deeper structures of the psyche.
Recent neurobiological research supports the validity of this approach. When a symbolic or imaginal experience is emotionally charged and psychologically coherent, it can activate the limbic system (especially the amygdala and hippocampus) and promote neuroplasticity—the creation of new neural pathways associated with identity and self-worth.
What to expect…
This will be a psychoeducational workshop, not a guided visualization session - we won’t be doing a guided imagination together.
Instead, we’ll deepen our understanding of the symbolic psyche, explore how the brain and nervous system respond to imagery, and teach you how to begin forming an inner relationship with your child self using the power of imaginal work.
Here is how the presentation will go:
Theoretical Foundations
A concise but comprehensive explanation of Jung’s method of active imagination and how it is distinct from visualization, guided meditation, or daydreaming. Includes discussion of the symbolic function, imaginal figures.
The Steps of Active Imagination
Presentation of the traditional stages of an active imagination session:
Setting the frame (psychological and physical containment)
Inviting a spontaneous image or figure
Engaging in dialogue or interaction
Recording and reflecting (drawing, writing, or voice recording)
Ethical and psychological considerations for practice
Application to Inner Child Work
How active imagination can be directed toward inner child healing—what it offers, how it works emotionally, and why symbolic mirroring matters. Discussion will include how internalized figures (e.g., the Self, the Wise Elder, or ancestral presences) can serve as sources of symbolic repair and affect regulation.
Case Illustration
A personal example will be shared to illustrate the clinical and symbolic impact of this work.
Integration and Q&A
Participants will be offered questions for personal reflection and clinical integration, with space for live discussion and dialogue.
About me
Lyna Tevenaz Jones is a psychodynamic and Jungian-informed therapist specializing in depth work with adults and adolescents. In my clinical work, integrate attachment theory, internal family systems, archetypal psychology, and affective neuroscience. My thesis research explored how symbolic imagery and active imagination can restore connection to the Self in the healing of childhood trauma and attachment wounds.
🔍 What You’ll Learn
The Unconscious speaks in symbol, not logic
Active imagination speaks the language of the soul: image, symbol, and emotion. It bypasses the thinking mind and engages the deeper, feeling layers of the psyche—where the inner child still waits for recognition.
Rewiring the emotional brain
Modern neuroscience confirms what Jung intuited: imaginal work engages the brain’s limbic system (emotional memory) and Default Mode Network (identity, narrative, self-reflection). Symbolic imagery doesn’t just inspire—it rewires.
When an inner child part receives loving mirroring from a trusted internal figure (like a Wise Elder, Self, or archetypal guide), your nervous system encodes it as a real emotional memory. Over time, this can soften old wounds and reshape your internal working model.
Corrective emotional experience
Unlike cognitive reframing, symbolic imagery allows for emotional truths to be installed directly into your inner world. These moments of deep connection—when felt as real—can become the new foundation of your self-worth.
A Living relationship with the Self
Jung called this “the royal road to the unconscious.” When your inner child is mirrored by the Self—not just conceptually, but through imaginal encounter—your psyche begins to reorganize around truth, not trauma.
Why this is important
Insight alone isn’t enough for genuine intrapsychic transformation to occur. We heal when the inner child receives the love and validation they never got - not just in theory, but through felt experience.
Active imagination allows that experience to be created, received, and installed.
Active Imagination & the Inner Child: A Depth Psychological and Neurobiological Approach
Join this 2-hour lecture-style workshop that presents the key findings of my thesis on the transformative role of imagery, memory, and symbolic imagination in the restoration of the inner child’s self-concept.
Rooted in Jungian theory and supported by neuroscience, this presentation bridges clinical insight with symbolic depth.
You’ll learn:
- The structure and purpose of active imagination
- How imagery impacts emotional memory and identity
- The role of the limbic system, autobiographical memory, and the Default Mode Network
- Why symbolic experiences can rewire emotional patterns more effectively than logic or insight alone
Refund policy for sessions
Please note that all registrations are final and non-refundable.
Depth psychology values commitment and containment. When someone signs up, it’s often part of a deeper, unconscious process—a psyche-level contract. A no-refund policy reinforces the idea that once a commitment is made, the work begins, even if resistance or ambivalence surfaces later.
No changes, transfers, or cancellations will be accepted once you have registered. In the unlikely event that the workshop is canceled, you will be contacted via email and offered an alternative of equivalent value.
For any questions regarding our policies, feel free to reach out at lyna@womenofdepthpsychology.com.
Early Bird Pricing – Limited Time
Join the live lecture + receive the recording and PDF guide
Early Bird Price: $45
(Regular Price: $55 – starting May 1st)
Early registration gives you access to the full 2-hour live session, the replay, and a downloadable PDF with prompts and guidance to deepen your personal practice.
A recorded lecture exploring the psychological and neurobiological foundations of active imagination and its impact on the inner child.
Includes:
- 1h30mn recorded presentation
- PDF Guide to Active Imagination with imagery prompts
Perfect for those who want to learn at their own pace and revisit the content on their own time.
Attend the live presentation and engage with others in real time. This option includes everything from the self-paced version, plus the opportunity to ask questions and experience the energy of the live event.
Includes:
- Access to the live 1h30mn session
- Live Q & A for 30mn
- 6-months recording access
- PDF Guide to Active Imagination with prompts
Ideal if you want to attend live, interact during the session, and integrate the material more dynamically.
Taking good care of your psyche and your body.
This lecture is intended for educational and self-reflective purposes only and is not a substitute for individual therapy or professional mental health treatment.
By participating, you acknowledge that any emotional material that may arise is your responsibility to process, and it is strongly recommended that you engage in ongoing personal therapy for deeper integration. While care has been taken to create a safe and thoughtful experience, I am not liable for any psychological discomfort or triggering that may occur. Please honor your own boundaries and seek support from a licensed therapist if needed.
The unconscious is not neutral; it carries both light and shadow, and engaging with it requires reverence, humility, and a grounded internal container. For this reason, we will not be practicing active imagination together live.