Strong Tower Mental Health Podcast · Heidi Mortenson, MA, LMFT

224. Restoring Your Original Design with Dr. Shannan Crawford

·54 min·3 clips

Crawford says the core lies are that God left you down here and that something is wrong with you.

The conversation opens with a warning that shallow change can leave a person worse off later. It uses the image of people cycling through pastors and counselors without reaching the deeper system underneath. That sets the tone for a discussion about restoration instead of quick fixes. Heidi Mortensen frames the podcast around being encouraged in Christ, mental health freedom through the simplicity of the gospel, and living with the fruits of the Spirit rather than what we are not. She names inner healing, deliverance, counseling, coaching, trauma, healthy relationships, neuroscience, healing, and more as part of the podcast's world. Dr. Shannan Crawford then presses into the idea that change has to include the physical, the hard wiring, the spiritual, and the energetic dimensions of a person. She argues that simply deciding to think differently does not resolve the parts of self that are still in conflict, and that unresolved conflict can return and intensify later. The episode also resists the opposite extreme, where everything is reduced to only spiritual language and the soul is never taught how to relate with the spirit man. The conversation uses the image of collaboration between the Father, Jesus, and Holy Spirit as a model for collaboration within a person. They are presented as distinct in role but united in purpose, and the speaker says that in an ideal order the spirit man is in charge. She also references the seven spirits of God before the throne to describe divine multifacetedness without implying multiple personalities, and then applies that same idea to human beings as one multifaceted being. The discussion underscores that human life is a system of many moving parts: different bodily systems, countless neurons, and organs working at once without conscious management. Crawford says the enemy plants core lies early in the story of a person. One lie she identifies is tied to the shift from spirit life into fleshly life, which she describes as a first experience of separation from the Father. That can feel frightening and can show up as voices, anger, and abandonment. From there, the conversation moves toward restoring self-cohesion. The language stays personal and pastoral rather than detached. It keeps returning to the idea that healing is not just symptom management but a deeper reordering. The close points listeners toward classes, therapists, and coaches for people who want a deeper dive, including virtual and in-person support, and ends with the broader invitation that the podcast gives every week: stay encouraged in Christ, renew the mind, and move toward freedom with Jesus at the center.

As heard by us

A faith-forward conversation that ties mental health freedom to the renewing of the mind.

This episode sits where faith, trauma, and old habits meet. It frames mental health freedom through the simplicity of the gospel, while still leaving room for inner healing, deliverance, counseling, coaching, trauma, healthy relationships, neuroscience, healing, and the renewing…

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Why you'd press play

For when you need a Christ-centered reset on why old patterns keep circling back.

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