What happens when God interrupts a life headed for destruction? What happens when addiction, depression, identity confusion, and trauma collide with the power of Jesus?

In this raw and powerful episode of the Strong Tower Mental Health Podcast, Heidi sits down with Pastor Michael to talk about deliverance, healing, spiritual warfare, and what real freedom actually looks like.

Michael shares his testimony — from growing up in church to addiction, pornography, depression, and medication dependence — and how an encounter with Jesus rewrote his story.

Together, they explore: • How God restores identity and heals trauma • Why spiritual warfare is real — and how to walk in victory • The role of prayer, fasting, and obedience in lasting freedom • Finding purpose on the other side of pain

You'll walk away with renewed hope, practical steps for spiritual growth, and the reminder that no one is too far gone for God.

Your past does not define you. Your pain does not disqualify you. Your future is still being written.

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." ~2 Corinthians 5:17

Activation Church's website: www.activationchurch.life

Find more about Heidi: www.heidimortensonlmft.com

Join my mailing list: https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/t5u2y5

If you are in crisis, help is available by call or text 1-800-273-8255 24/7. You can also visit https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org. You are loved!

What if your struggle to be still isn't spiritual failure—but a nervous system that learned survival? In this episode, we explore how to train your body, soul, and spirit to experience God's presence in a real, sustainable way. If you feel restless, bored, agitated, or unable to slow down with God, this conversation will gently show you that stillness is a skill that can be learned.

You'll learn:

• Why stillness is biblical and essential for hearing God • How trauma and overstimulation affect spiritual focus • What to do when boredom or agitation rises • Simple practices to train your nervous system for rest • How stillness strengthens your ability to stay in your God-given assignment

This episode is an invitation into a slower, safer, more rooted way of walking with God. "Be still, and know that I am God." — Psalm 46:10

What if Jesus isn't just relevant to your faith—but deeply relevant to your emotions, your mind, and your mental health?

What if Jesus cares about your mental health as much as your faith? In this episode of the Strong Tower Mental Health Podcast, Heidi is joined by licensed marriage and family therapist and author Rebecca Maxwell to explore how biblical truth and psychology work together in emotional healing. Rebecca shares her journey to faith and insights from her book Jesus and Mental Health, revealing how Jesus models emotional health and why slow healing can still be sacred.

In this episode, you'll gain: • A biblical framework for understanding emotions and mental health • Insight into how Jesus models healthy emotional processing • Clarity on how faith and therapy can work together • Encouragement if healing feels slow or discouraging • Hope for anyone feeling stuck emotionally despite loving God

Bible Verse: Romans 12:2 (ESV) — "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."

This conversation offers hope-filled truth for anyone seeking healing, renewal, and wholeness in Christ.

Rebecca's website: www.jesusandyourmentalhealth.com

Find more about Heidi: www.heidimortensonlmft.com

Join my mailing list: https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/t5u2y5

If you are in crisis, help is available by call or text 1-800-273-8255 24/7. You can also visit https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org. You are loved!

What is God asking of you right now? In a world filled with constant noise, crisis, controversy, and competing voices, it's easy to feel pulled in every direction. This episode invites you to slow down, tune out distraction, and rediscover the peace that comes from knowing your current assignment from God.

"Let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him." — 1 Corinthians 7:17 (ESV)

What you'll gain from this episode:

• The biblical difference between calling, purpose, and assignment • How to discern God's leading through peace, prayer, dreams, and wise counsel • Why choosing your family and tending what's in your hands is holy • How to recognize when something is a weight—not your responsibility • Practical ways to stay focused on what God has entrusted to you in this season

This episode will help you release what isn't yours to carry and embrace faithful obedience right where you are.

Find more about Heidi: www.heidimortensonlmft.com

Sign up for the coaching group: www.rootedandwholecoaching.com

Join my mailing list: https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/t5u2y5

If you are in crisis, help is available by call or text 1-800-273-8255 24/7. You can also visit https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org. You are loved!

In this powerful conversation, Heidi sits down with Dr. Crawford to explore how faith and psychology work together to heal the spirit, soul, and body. Crawford shares her journey from acting to becoming a psychologist after overcoming depression, self-harm, and eating disorders—and how the Holy Spirit led her into true transformation.

Together, they unpack the difference between the false self and the God-designed self, how trauma fractures identity, and practical tools like internal board meetings, imagination, and somatic breathing to restore wholeness. This episode blends clinical wisdom, biblical truth, and spiritual insight to help listeners return to their original design.

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." ~ 2 Corinthians 5:17

✨ Episode Highlights

• Crawford's healing journey & calling into psychology
• How the false self forms—and how God restores identity
• Healing the spirit, soul, and body through integrated care
• Using imagination, internal board meetings & somatic breathing
• How biblical truth and therapy work together for transformation

📞 Connect With Dr. Crawford

Crawford Clinics: https://crawfordclinics.com/

Shannan's website: https://drshannancrawford.com/

Find more about Heidi: www.heidimortensonlmft.com

Join my mailing list: https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/t5u2y5

If you are in crisis, help is available by call or text 1-800-273-8255 24/7. You can also visit https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org. You are loved!

Have you ever gone to church, felt better… but didn't know why? Do you love Jesus but still feel stuck in anxiety, striving, or exhaustion? Do you feel like you should be doing more — even when your heart is longing just to rest? You were never meant to live from survival. You were created to live from heaven.

In this powerful and revelatory episode, Heidi Mortenson invites you into a life-changing understanding of who you really are: you are a spirit, who has a soul, and lives in a body. When you said yes to Jesus, the Holy Spirit came to live inside you — bringing wisdom, discernment, healing, and divine connection. But most of us were never taught how to actually live from our spirit.

"Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." ~1 Thessalonians 5:23 "God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." ~John 4:24

This episode will help you break free from striving and step into alignment with heaven.

✨ In this episode, you'll discover:

• How to live spirit-led instead of stress-led
• How your soul can come under peace instead of pressure
• How your body can heal when it feels safe and supported
• How to experience God not just intellectually, but relationally and spiritually

You'll be guided into deeper awareness of God's presence within you, learn how to release shame and self-blame, and receive practical tools for walking daily in Spirit, soul, and body alignment — the way God designed.

This is not about doing more. This is about becoming more aware of who God already is in you.

Find more about Heidi: www.heidimortensonlmft.com

Join my mailing list: https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/t5u2y5

If you are in crisis, help is available by call or text 1-800-273-8255 24/7. You can also visit https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org. You are loved!

Have you felt stuck and that you couldn't keep doing? This episode is a tender yet bold encouragement to anyone who feels stuck, unseen, or uncertain. Heidi and Melanie bring the listener back to the truth of God's goodness, His faithfulness in hardship, and His purpose even in our pain.

Despite early technical difficulties, God's presence filled the conversation as Melanie shared her powerful testimony—from infertility and miraculous birth stories to deep loss and renewed hope. Through her journey, she reminds us that Christ in us truly is the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27) and that we are called to live as salt and light in the world, carrying the kingdom of God wherever we go.

In this heartfelt and Holy Spirit–led conversation, Heidi Mortenson, MA, LMFT, sits down with author and speaker Melanie, whose debut book "You Have to Know" became a bestseller and Christlight Award winner. Together, they explore the journey of faith through adversity, healing through identity, and finding purpose in the wilderness seasons of life.

✨ What You'll Receive from This Episode

• 💖 Renewed Faith: See how God's love meets you in the wilderness seasons and turns pain into purpose.
• 🕊️ Healing for the Heart: Learn how to release false beliefs about God as the author of suffering and instead encounter Him as the giver of life and abundance.
• 🔥 Spiritual Confidence: Discover what it means to walk in divine identity as salt and light—carrying Christ's presence wherever you go.
• 👑 Purpose and Calling: Be inspired to embrace your unique role in God's kingdom and overcome fear or doubt that holds you back.
• 🙏 A Personal Blessing: End the episode with a powerful prayer of encouragement and impartation for listeners seeking truth, hope, and renewed vision.

"Which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." ~Colossians 1:27

Melanie's website: https://melaniecox.org/

Follow Melanie on social media: @itsmelaniecox

Melanie's book You Have To Know

Find more about Heidi: www.heidimortensonlmft.com

Join my mailing list: https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/t5u2y5

If you are in crisis, help is available by call or text 1-800-273-8255 24/7. You can also visit https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org. You are loved!

What if reaching your goals, healing emotionally, and growing spiritually isn't about trying harder—but about becoming safer?

In this episode of the Strong Tower Mental Health Podcast, we go deeper into what it actually looks like to live regulated by the Spirit by expanding our window of tolerance and increasing our capacity. Building on Romans 7 and 8, Heidi explores how neuroscience, nervous system regulation, and Scripture work together so we can move beyond where we've been—whether that's in healing, faith, parenting, leadership, or personal goals.

If you've ever loved God, believed the truth, and still found yourself overwhelmed, shut down, reactive, or stuck, this episode explains why—and shows how the Holy Spirit gently expands your capacity over time so you can live with greater peace, presence, self-control, and forward movement.

Healing and achieving goals isn't about pushing harder. It's about becoming more regulated, connected, and anchored in God.

✨ What You'll Gain from This Episode

• A clear understanding of the window of tolerance and how it affects behavior, healing, and goal achievement
• Why dysregulation—not rebellion—is often what keeps us stuck
• How the Holy Spirit expands our capacity through safety, not pressure
• Practical, Spirit-led ways to move toward healing and your New Year's goals without burnout or shame

"For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death." ~Romans 8:2

Milk & Honey Sponsor, use code STRONGTOWER15: https://milkandhoneytallow.com?sca_ref=9980346.HylvVLpOJiQO

💬 Connect with Heidi Mortenson

• 🌐 Website: www.heidimortenson.com
• 📬 Join the Mailing List: Stay encouraged with weekly faith and mental health insights → https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/t5u2y5
• 📸 Instagram: @heidilynnlmft
• 👍 Facebook: @heidilynnlmft
• 🌐 TikTok: @heidilynnlmft

If you are in crisis, help is available by call or text 1-800-273-8255 24/7. You can also visit https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org. You are loved!

In this heartfelt and Spirit-led conversation, Heidi and Marie dive deep into the powerful connection between mental health, emotional healing, and the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit. Together, they explore what it means to walk through life's transitions—personally and professionally—while staying anchored in God's truth and love.

Marie opens up about her process of facilitating inner healing sessions, describing how the Lord gently guides people to uncover root wounds, release unforgiveness, and encounter His peace. Heidi shares from her own journey of learning to trust God's timing, surrender responsibilities, and walk in renewed purpose.

As these two women talk, you'll feel invited into a sacred space of authenticity and grace. Whether you're navigating change, wrestling with old pain, or desiring deeper connection with God, this episode will remind you that healing is possible—because Jesus is still healing hearts today.

💡 What You'll Discover in This Episode:

• A simple yet powerful formula for forgiveness that leads to lasting freedom.
• How the Holy Spirit guides inner healing—often in ways we don't expect.
• Why forgiveness and boundaries both matter for spiritual growth.
• How unresolved pain can open doors for spiritual warfare—and how to close them.
• The role of community and discipleship in sustaining healing and peace.

💬 Marie's words will stir your faith, and Heidi's insights will give you practical, biblical tools to walk in wholeness—body, soul, and spirit.

"He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds." ~Psalm 147:3

🌿 Connect with Marie Bursch: https://www.vibrantlifeconsulting.com/

💬 Connect with Heidi Mortenson

• 🌐 Website: www.heidimortenson.com
• 📬 Join the Mailing List: Stay encouraged with weekly faith and mental health insights → https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/t5u2y5
• 📸 Instagram: @heidilynnlmft
• 👍 Facebook: @heidilynnlmft
• 🌐 TikTok: @heidilynnlmft

If you are in crisis, help is available by call or text 1-800-273-8255 24/7. You can also visit https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org. You are loved!

Why do so many faithful, insightful Christians still feel stuck—emotionally, mentally, or behaviorally?

In this episode of the Strong Tower Mental Health Podcast, Heidi explores Romans 7 and 8 through the lenses of Scripture, neuroscience, and mental health, revealing why insight and willpower alone don't lead to lasting freedom. You'll discover how true healing happens when the Spirit becomes the source of regulation, safety, and identity, allowing the soul and body to finally come into alignment.

This episode reframes healing from self-fixing to Spirit-led transformation—moving listeners out of survival mode and into the law of the Spirit of life. This is theology + neuroscience + attachment theory working together.

What You'll Gain from This Episode

• A biblical explanation for why good intentions and insight aren't enough to create change (Romans 7 → Romans 8)
• A neuroscience-backed understanding of survival mode and how it relates to "the flesh"
• Freedom from shame-based healing through the truth of no condemnation
• A Spirit-led model of healing that flows from spirit → soul → body
• Practical, embodied ways to live from the Spirit this week, not just think about it

"For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death." — Romans 8:2

"For to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace." — Romans 8:6

Milk & Honey Sponsor, use code STRONGTOWER15: https://milkandhoneytallow.com?sca_ref=9980346.HylvVLpOJiQO

💬 Connect with Heidi Mortenson

• 🌐 Website: www.heidimortenson.com
• 📬 Join the Mailing List: Stay encouraged with weekly faith and mental health insights → https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/t5u2y5
• 📸 Instagram: @heidilynnlmft
• 👍 Facebook: @heidilynnlmft
• 🌐 TikTok: @heidilynnlmft

If you are in crisis, help is available by call or text 1-800-273-8255 24/7. You can also visit https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org. You are loved!