Psychologist who talks with the angels

She’s a glamorous blonde American psychologist whose dramatic career change came as the result of a violent car-jacking incident in 1996.

Doreen Virtue, 48, believes her life was saved that July day in an Anaheim, Californian car park when two men pulled a gun on her because she “listened to the angels”.

So profound was the event that the mother-of-two immediately swapped work heading respected psychiatric clinics for a new life as an author and speaker.

The life move has brought incredible success. In the past ten years Doreen has had 23 books, eight card decks and 12 CDs published that have sold over seven million units worldwide. At her back is major American publisher Hay House, which is distributed by Penguin Books in New Zealand.

In Australia alone over 4000 people have attended her `Angel Intuitive’ workshops, where they too can learn to tap into the power of the angels. Doreen has appeared on Oprah, Good Morning America, and CNN telling about how angles can help every aspect of our lives, including financially.

Now on October 8 Doreen is coming to New Zealand to bring her angel message to the people of Auckland (www.hayhouse.com.au).

She relates the car-jacking incident: “As I got out my car in the parking lot that day in July, two men accosted me with a gun. As I stood frozen with fear, I suddenly heard a voice in my right ear telling me to scream with all my might.

“There was no one there, but I knew immediately that it was an angel. For a split second, I hesitated. Common wisdom says that you shouldn’t scream if someone is holding a gun on you, plus there was no one to hear me, the area seemed deserted. But I listened to the voice and screamed.

“The noise attracted the attention of a woman I hadn’t seen, sitting in her car on the other side of the parking lot. She leaned on her horn and people rushed out of a nearby church and scared off the two men. Afterwards, I got down on my knees in the parking lot and thanked God for saving my life.”

The experience was so profound that Doreen says she asked God what she could do to repay the angelic assistance. The message she believes she received back: follow the guidance that had been inside her for so long and tell people about the power of the mind and spirit to heal and create the life of their dreams.

The next day Doreen stopped charging her psychology clients and instead gave them messages from their angels. She soon had a two year waiting list of clients.

As a child Doreen says she had been aware of spiritual realms – seeing spiritual beings, strange coloured lights and having an out-of-body experience, but decided to keep a lid on such happenings.

Her parents were decidedly `New Age’, an aerospace engineer turned businessman dad and Weight Watchers counsellor mother turned spiritual healer who used prayers, affirmations and manifestation techniques to pay the bills and keep food on the table.

“In the 1960s and 1970s when I was growing up such metaphysical thinking wasn’t widespread. The other kids in the neighbourhood made fun of me because I used words like `manifest’ and `divine timing’, which were common expressions in our household. They’d laugh and roll their eyes and wouldn’t let me play in their games.

“It left me pretty confused. I’d seen miracles happening around my parents, but didn’t like being ostracized for being different.”

Instead Doreen gained degrees and a PhD in counselling and psychology and specialised in women’s and eating disorder issues, along the way heading up the WomanKind Psychiatric Hospital, working as an administrator at Woodside Women’s Hospital in San Francisco (all women psychiatric hospitals specialising in treating women’s psychological issues) and directing outpatient adolescent drug & alcohol centres.

Today Doreen describes herself as a “fourth generation metaphysician” and “spiritual clairvoyant psychologist”. Her parents Joan and Bill Hannan still run their successful model airplane business, while younger brother Ken is training to become a minister.

She’s married to Steven Farmer, also a licensed psychotherapist and author of six books on spirituality. Doreen and Steven grew up as childhood neighbours, but didn’t meet again until 2000 in a strange synchronicity.

The couple are based in California, but travel the world to allow Doreen to talk about the angelic realms. She says all religions ancient and modern have archetypes of benevolent spiritual helpers who assist people in times of need.

Doreen: “I feel that it is vital that we all open to our spiritual gifts and to the divine. It is the `emergency broadcast system’ that keeps us safe and I know that in times of danger, God always sends angels.

“The world is changing so rapidly that people are paralysed with fear and anxiety about the future, but our angels can be called upon and give us solid guidance that we can trust. They help us during crises and heal away negative situations while helping us extract the lesson that lies within those hard times.”

ENDS