Begin Your Study of Active Imagination

Active imagination is one of Jung’s most important methods for working directly with the unconscious. This course introduces students to the history, theory, and practice of active imagination in Jungian psychology.

For Jung, active imagination was not simply fantasy, daydreaming, or creative visualization. It was a disciplined way of entering into dialogue with images, moods, affects, figures, and symbolic material arising from the unconscious while remaining grounded in conscious life. Jung 104: Jung and Active Imagination explores the origins of the method in Jung’s own inner work, especially his Black Books and Red Book, while keeping the primary focus on active imagination as a practice. Students study Jung’s writings on active imagination, basic techniques, art therapy, movement, sandplay, alchemy, prayer, and the role of symbolic expression in the individuation process. This course may be taken as a standalone course, or as the fourth required course in the Certificate in Foundational Depth Psychology.
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Learn Jung’s Method for Dialoguing with the Unconscious

Active imagination helps students understand how Jungian psychology moves beyond interpretation alone into a living relationship with the unconscious.

Dream work remains central to Jungian psychology, but dreams are not the only way the unconscious communicates. Jung developed active imagination as a way of engaging unconscious material more directly. Rather than passively waiting for a dream, active imagination invites students to attend carefully to an image, affect, mood, fantasy, or symbolic figure and allow a dialogue to unfold. This course emphasizes that active imagination requires care, grounding, ethical responsibility, and psychological discernment. It is not a technique to be forced or used casually. It belongs within the larger work of individuation, where the ego learns to relate more consciously to the unconscious without becoming overwhelmed by it. Students are introduced to active imagination as a serious symbolic practice, one that can take many forms, including writing, image-making, movement, sandplay, ritual, prayer, and other modes of expression.
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Learn Jung’s Method for Dialoguing with the Unconscious

Who This Course Is For

This course is well suited for therapists, counselors, educators, clergy, spiritual directors, artists, writers, students of religion and mythology, and serious lay learners who want to understand Jung’s method of active imagination and its role in depth psychological work.

It is especially appropriate for students who have completed Jung 101, Jung 102, and Jung 103, or who already have a working knowledge of Jungian psychology, dreams, symbolic interpretation, and the process of individuation.

This course is also one of the four required courses in the Academy’s Certificate in Foundational Depth Psychology.

This course is especially helpful for students who want to understand:

  • What Jung meant by active imagination
  • How active imagination differs from ordinary fantasy or passive imagination
  • The relationship between active imagination and Jung’s Red Book
  • Why active imagination requires grounding and ethical responsibility
  • How active imagination relates to dreams and the individuation process
  • How images, emotions, moods, and affects can become starting points for inner work
  • The role of art, writing, movement, and sandplay in active imagination
  • The relationship between active imagination and alchemical symbolism
  • How prayer and religious practice may be understood in relation to symbolic dialogue


Why active imagination remains one of Jung’s most important contributions to depth psychology

What You Will Study

In this course, we explore:

  • Jung’s Red Book and the history behind active imagination
  • Jung’s writings on active imagination
  • The relationship between active imagination and the transcendent function
  • Basic techniques and cautions for active imagination
  • The role of affect, mood, image, and fantasy in symbolic work
  • The difference between passive fantasy and active imagination
  • Ethical confrontation and the need to bring insight into ordinary life
  • Art therapy and visual expression as forms related to active imagination
  • Movement, dance, and the body as pathways for symbolic dialogue
  • Sandplay and the use of symbolic objects within a protected container
  • Alchemy as a symbolic parallel to active imagination and transformation
  • Prayer, spiritual practice, and the ongoing dialogue with the depths of the psyche


The course is designed to make Jung’s approach to active imagination understandable without reducing it to a rigid formula. Students receive a serious introduction to the method while also learning why Jung was cautious about systematizing it too narrowly.

Your Instructor

  • James R. Newell, Ph.D.

    Senior Instructor

    James R. Newell, Ph.D.

    James Newell is an educator, counselor, personal coach, professional musician, and the director of the Depth Psychology Alliance. James earned his master’s degree in Pastoral Counseling and Theology from Vanderbilt University Divinity School, with a focus on Jungian psychology. He earned his doctorate in History of Religions from the Vanderbilt University Graduate School of Religion. James has taught online and face to face courses for Central Michigan University, Western Kentucky University, Excelsior College, Thomas Edison State University, and other institutions.

What others are saying:

Bonnie Bright, PhD, founder of the Depth Psychology Alliance

Dr. James Newell is a gifted teacher

Bonnie Bright, PhD, founder of the Depth Psychology Alliance

Dr. James Newell is a gifted teacher and scholar who has effectively organized an impressive amount of detailed research and information into a series of powerful classes and courses on Jung and Jung’s psychology, now available on Depth Psychology Academy. Students at all levels can gain a depth of understanding about how Jung’s ideas can change our lives and our world as Dr. Newell explains each topic very clearly and at exactly the right pace for students of all levels to take it in.
Ann Amberg, MCS, Transpersonal Leadership Consultant

James is a knowledgeable and caring instructor with an engaging teaching style

Ann Amberg, MCS, Transpersonal Leadership Consultant

I highly recommend Dr. James Newell’s courses. Upon completion of my certificate in Depth Psychology I had gained the confidence, focus and knowledge to support my success in my current PhD program in Jungian and Archetypal Studies at Pacifica Graduate Institute. James is a knowledgeable and caring instructor with an engaging teaching style. All of the Depth Psychology Alliance courses I took: Introduction to Jungian Psychology, Active Imagination, Fairy Tales, Dreams, and many more, were phenomenal and I am most grateful for the opportunity to study with James.
Nirlap Bettenhauser, student

The courses I have taken with Dr. Newell have perfectly prepped me for my graduate studies in psychoanalysis.

Nirlap Bettenhauser, student

This is an outstanding educational program where one can learn multiple areas of Jungian Psychology. These courses are very well structured with an appropriate course load and high quality texts. Plus the price is incredibly reasonable. The courses I have taken with Dr. Newell have been intellectually engaging and have perfectly prepped me for my graduate studies in psychoanalysis. Not something I expected to receive from the academy, but very grateful I did.
Monica Flores, Ed.D

Dr. James Newell is highly knowledgeable in Jungian Psychology

Monica Flores, Ed.D

Dr. James Newell is highly knowledgeable in Jungian Psychology. I learned so much from him about Jung and Jungian psychology when I began taking courses in Depth Psychology from the Depth Psychology Alliance online courses. Dr. Newell is open-minded and consistent. He has a smooth voice that can hold anyone’s attention. I recommend taking these courses through the Depth Psychology Academy.

A Strong Foundation for Symbolic Inner Work

Jung 104 completes the four-course sequence of the Certificate in Foundational Depth Psychology.

By the time students reach Jung 104, they have moved through Jungian concepts, applied Jungian psychology, and Jungian dream work. Active imagination brings these studies together by focusing on the living dialogue between consciousness and the unconscious. This course helps students understand why Jung saw the unconscious as psychologically real and why symbolic images deserve careful attention. It also helps students recognize the need for grounding, discernment, and ethical responsibility when engaging the deeper layers of the psyche. As the final course in the Certificate in Foundational Depth Psychology, Jung 104 gives students a strong foundation for continued study in the Academy’s more advanced symbolic courses, including mythology, fairy tales, alchemy, and the history of depth psychology.
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A Strong Foundation for Symbolic Inner Work

Course Structure

A self-paced course designed for careful, guided study

Jung 104 is a self-paced course organized into eight modules. Students can move through the material at their own pace while following the course lessons, quizzes, readings or resources, and completion steps on the Academy site.

This course was designed as a clear introduction to Jung’s practice of active imagination and as the recommended fourth step in the Certificate in Foundational Depth Psychology.

Course curriculum

  • 1
    Welcome to Jung and Active Imagination!
  • 2
    Module 1 / Jung’s Red Book and the History Behind Active Imagination
    • M1/1: Learning and Assessment Activities
    • M1/2: Course Syllabus
    • M1/3: Video Lesson: Jung and the Red Book
    • M1/4: Video Lesson Quiz
    • M1/5: Readings Quiz - (All questions are based on pages 1-20 in the textbook)
    • M1/6: Suggested Readings and Additional Resources
    • M1/7: An Additional, Optional Resource for Study
    • M1/8: Additional, Optional Video Resources
  • 3
    Module 2: Jung’s Writings on Active Imagination
    • M2/1: Learning and Assessment Activities
    • M2/2: Video Lesson: Jung's Writings on Active Imagination
    • M2/3: Video Quiz
    • M2/4: Readings Quiz - (All questions are based on the assigned readings, p. 21-41 in the textbook)
    • M2/5: Suggested Readings and Additional Resources
    • M2/6: An Additional, Optional Resource for Study
    • M2/7: Additional, Optional Video
  • 4
    Module 3: Basic Techniques of Active Imagination
    • M3/1: Learning and Assessment Activities
    • M3/2: Video Lesson: Basic Techniques of Active Imagination
    • M3/3: Video Lesson Quiz
    • M3/4: Readings Quiz - (All questions are based p. 42-60 in the textbook)
    • M3/5: Suggested Readings and Additional Resources.
    • M3/6: An Additional, Optional Resource for Study
    • M3/7: An Additional, Optional Resource for Study
    • M3/8: Additional, Optional Video Resource
  • 5
    Module 4: Art Therapy and Active Imagination
    • M4/1: Learning and Assessment Activities
    • M4/2: Video Lesson: Art Therapy and Active Imagination
    • M4/3: Video Lesson Quiz
    • M4/4: Readings Quiz - (All questions are based on pages 97-142 in the textbook)
    • M4/5: Suggested Readings and Additional Resources
    • M4/6: An Additional, Optional Resource for Study
    • M4/7: An Additional, Optional Resource for Study
    • M4/8: An Additional, Optional Resource for Study
    • M4/9: An Additional, Optional Resource for Study
    • M4/10: An Additional, Optional Resource for Study
    • M4/11: An additional, Optional Video Resource
  • 6
    Module 5: Movement and Active Imagination
    • M5/1: Learning and Assessment Activities
    • M5/2: Video Lesson: Movement and Active Imagination
    • M5/3: Module 5 Video Quiz
    • M5/4: Module 5 Readings Quiz - (All questions are based on the assigned reading, pages 84-96 in the textbook).
    • M5/5: Suggested Readings and Additional Resources
    • M5/6: Additional, Optional Resource for Study
    • M5/7: Additional, Optional Resource for Study
    • M5/8: Additional, Optional Resource for Study
    • M5/9: Additional, Optional Resource for Study
    • M5/10: Additional, Optional Video Resources
  • 7
    Module 6: Sandplay and Active imagination
    • M6/1: Learning and Assessment Activities
    • M6/2: Video Lesson: Sandplay and Active Imagination
    • M6/3: Module 6 Video Lesson Quiz
    • M6/4: Module 6 Readings Quiz - (All questions are based on the assigned readings, pages 143-162 in the textbook).
    • M6/5: Suggested Readings and Additional Resources
    • M6/6: An Additional, Optional Resource for Study
    • M6/7: An Additional, Optional Resource for Study
    • M6/8: An Additional, Optional Resource for Study
    • M6/9: An Additional, Optional Resource for Study
    • M6/10: Additional, Optional Video
  • 8
    Module 7: Alchemy and Active imagination
    • M7/1: Learning and Assessment Activities
    • M7/2: Video Lesson: Alchemy and Active Imagination
    • M7/3: Module 7 Video Lesson Quiz
    • M7/4: Module 7 Readings Quiz (All questions are based on the assigned readings, pages 61-83 in the textbook).
    • M7/5: Suggested Readings and Additional Resources
    • M7/6: An Additional, Optional Resource for Study
    • M7/7: An Additional, Optional Resource for Study
    • M7/8: An Additional, Optional Resource for Study
    • M7/9: Additional, Optional Videos
  • 9
    Module 8: Prayer and Active imagination
    • M8/1: Learning and Assessment Activities
    • M8/2: Video Lesson: Prayer and Active Imagination
    • M8/3: Module 8 Video Lesson Quiz
    • M8/4: Module 8 Readings Quiz - (All questions are based on pages 163-179 in the textbook)
    • M8/5: Suggested Readings and Additional Resources.
    • M8/6: Additional, Optional Resource for Study
    • M8/7: Additional, Optional Resource for Study
    • M8/8: Additional, Optional Video Resource
    • M8/9: Course Completion

Part of the Certificate in Foundational Depth Psychology

Jung 104 is the fourth required course in the Academy’s Certificate in Foundational Depth Psychology.

Jung 101 is one of the four required courses in the Academy’s Certificate in Foundational Depth Psychology.

The full certificate pathway includes:

  1. Jung 101: Introduction to Jungian Psychology
  2. Jung 102: Applied Jungian Psychology
  3. Jung 103: Jung and Dreams
  4. Jung 104: Jung and Active Imagination


Together, these four courses provide a guided foundation in Jungian concepts, applied depth psychology, dream work, and active imagination. Students who complete all four courses, including all required lessons, quizzes, readings or materials, and lesson completion steps, may request enrollment in the final Certificate Completion course after receiving the individual course completion certificates for all four courses.

Students may also take Jung 104 as a standalone course. It is complete in itself and is especially valuable for anyone who wants to understand Jung’s approach to active imagination, symbolic work, the unconscious, and the process of individuation.

For students who wish to continue, this foundation also prepares the way for the Advanced Certificate in Foundational Depth Psychology, which moves more deeply into mythology, fairy tales, alchemy, and the history of depth psychology.

Continue into Active Imagination and Deeper Jungian Study

Jung 104 offers a clear and grounded introduction to one of Jung’s most important methods for working with the unconscious.

Whether students are completing the Certificate in Foundational Depth Psychology or studying active imagination on its own, this course provides a serious foundation in Jung’s approach to symbolic dialogue, inner work, creative expression, and the individuation process. As the final course in the certificate sequence, Jung 104 also opens naturally into continued study. Students who want to deepen their work may continue with the Advanced Certificate in Foundational Depth Psychology, where the study of symbols expands into mythology, fairy tales, alchemy, and the broader history of depth psychology. Enroll now to begin a careful study of Jung’s practice of active imagination and the living dialogue between consciousness and the unconscious.
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