Angel Therapy

Angels in Jewish, Christian and Islamic thought

Belief in angels as messengers of God is long established in the Abrahamic religions, but the traditions differ on what people may do in relation to them. The Jewish Encyclopedia article on angelology says that Talmudic literature knew of angelic apparitions but not of the conjuration of angels, and that medieval mystical works such as the Book of Raziel later gave directions for invoking them. The article also attributes the naming of angels in Jewish sources partly to Babylonian influence.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that the existence of angels is a truth of faith, describes them as spiritual, non-corporeal servants and messengers of God, and says that beside each believer stands an angel as protector (paragraphs 328 and 336). A St Andrews Encyclopaedia of Theology entry on Islamic angelology, by Stephen Burge, says belief in angels (malaʾika) rests on the Qur'an as expanded in Hadith and commentary. A summary of the entry says humans cannot directly invoke angels. None of these three sources discusses Angel Therapy.

Angel Therapy as a modern, branded term

The practice now called Angel Therapy is linked to the American author Doreen Virtue. Her book Angel Therapy: Healing Messages for Every Area of Your Life was published by Hay House in 1997, according to an Open Library record. A United States trademark listing for ANGEL THERAPY, owned by Doreen Virtue, Ph.D., describes books, articles and services related to angel therapy, 'a term coined by the applicant'. The current status of that United States registration was not verified.

IP Australia's register shows a word mark ANGEL THERAPY filed on 15 July 2003 by Doreen Virtue LLC, in classes covering printed matter and educational services in spirituality and psychology. The mark was removed from the Australian register because the renewal fee due in July 2013 was not paid. These records show that the label identified a brand as well as a practice.

Angel spirituality in popular culture

The Finnish scholar Terhi Utriainen describes angels as having moved from Christian imagery into art, popular culture, the internet, film and commerce. She names international angel 'gurus' who sell practices such as meditations and therapies, together with items such as books and oracle cards. Her examples are Doreen Virtue (United States), Diane Cooper (United Kingdom), Lorna Byrne (Ireland) and Maria Zavou (Greece).

Virtue's departure from the field in 2017

The Pagan news site The Wild Hunt reported on 5 September 2017 that Virtue had been baptised in the Episcopal Church in February 2017 and had begun rejecting her earlier New Age teaching. It says her certification programmes, run under an Earth Angel brand, included Angel Therapy Practitioner and Certified Angelologist, and that some certificate holders questioned the value of their credentials and argued for refunds. In a 2023 Christian Post interview she is reported to say she left after reading Deuteronomy 18:10-12; that is her own account. The sources do not show how widely the label is still used.

A spiritual use of the word therapy

In Angel Therapy the word 'therapy' is a brand term and not a reference to a regulated clinical intervention. The trademark listing quoted above says the phrase was coined by its applicant, and the book Angel Therapy is described by a 2006 edition record as a work of spiritual guidance on everyday concerns. Readers should not infer clinical standing from the name, and no clinical definition was found in the sources reviewed.

Related and neighbouring terms

Several nearby terms appear in the sources. 'Angelology' is the heading used by the Jewish Encyclopedia for the doctrine of angels, and 'Certified Angelologist' was reported by The Wild Hunt as a credential in Virtue's programmes. 'Angel card readings' were described in a 2013 Calgary Journal report on a shop that offered them. Utriainen refers to an 'angel healing school' in Norway. The sources do not show that these labels denote one standard practice.

The word 'angel' itself means messenger. Burge notes that the Hebrew malʾākh is a generic word for a messenger, while the Arabic malak is used only for divine messengers. The Catechism, citing Augustine, says 'angel' is the name of an office and not of a nature (paragraph 329). Similar words across traditions should not be taken to show that the beliefs or practices are equivalent.

Reported formats

Descriptions of the practice come from a book and a news report, not from observation of sessions. A publisher description of Virtue's book says it has an alphabetical section on everyday topics, including addictions, relationships, sleep and anxiety, and a second section giving a step-by-step guide to communicating with one's angels. The same description presents the approach as a way of finding fresh ways to handle common problems.

A 2013 Calgary Journal report describes angel card readings offered weekly in a market shop, in which readers say they connect with a participant's personal angels. It says that, unlike tarot, the readings focus on releasing negative energy from past experiences and on questions about career, health, finances and relationships. This is one example in one city and not a survey of practice.

What the sources do not establish

No source reviewed gives a standard session length, price, intake process or sequence. Practitioners may use prayer, meditation, visualisation or oracle cards, but only cards are described in a source opened for this page, so other methods are not documented here. Participants can ask a practitioner what a session involves, whether it will include discussion of health, mental health or money, and how to stop it. Certification routes, where they exist, are privately run, as the Wild Hunt report on Virtue's programmes indicates.

Uses described by the author and practitioners

The publisher description of Virtue's book lists topics such as addictions, relationships, sleep and anxiety, and says angel therapy offers new ways of looking at common problems. The Calgary Journal headline reported angel card readings as described by the readers as a 'form of healing'. These are claims made by an author and by practitioners, and they have not been tested in the sources reviewed.

Reasons people report turning to angels

In Mikkola's questionnaire study of women attending Lorna Byrne's talks, angels were said to provide support and a sense of enchantment for coping with everyday life. Utriainen's chapter is concerned with angels, agency and emotions in angel spirituality. Neither source reports that a specific condition improved, and the participants were self-selected attendees and readers, so the findings describe meaning and motivation and not outcomes.

Searches run and what they found

On 5 October 2026 the title and abstract phrases 'angel therapy', 'angel healing', 'angel cards' and 'angel communication' were searched in PubMed and returned no records. A broader search combining angels with spiritual care and trials returned five records, none of which studied an angel-based practice; they matched incidental words such as a trial task name or an organisation name. A separate academic search tool returned mainly religious studies and sociology work. No controlled study or systematic review of Angel Therapy was found.

This is a limited search. PubMed was the only biomedical database searched in full, and psychology, nursing and religious-studies databases were not searched, so unpublished or non-indexed studies cannot be ruled out. The absence of trials is not evidence that the practice has no effect, and it is not evidence of an effect either. It means that no outcome claim for Angel Therapy can be supported from the sources reviewed.

Research that does exist is descriptive

The scholarship located is anthropological and sociological. Mikkola used questionnaires at talks by one speaker, and Utriainen discusses angel culture as a commercial and globalised form of religion. These works help explain who uses angel spirituality and why, but they do not compare Angel Therapy with another intervention, follow outcomes over time or record adverse events.

Why evidence from other spiritual healing should not be transferred

Trials of other spiritual or energy-based healing practices exist. A 2025 pilot trial in Norway randomised 28 adults with moderate depression to hands-over-body spiritual healing plus usual care or usual care alone, and reported lower depression scores in the healing group at 16 weeks. It was a feasibility study with no sham comparator, and its abstract does not mention angels. Its findings should not be applied to Angel Therapy, which differs in method, framework and population.

Concern about exploitation

In the 2013 Calgary Journal report, a Mount Royal University counsellor said that angel card readings lack scientific evidence and that there is a risk of exploiting people who are suffering. This is one professional's view in a student news report, not a study of harm. It is included because it is the only source reviewed that states a consumer-protection concern about angel readings.

Credentials, branding and religious objections

The Wild Hunt report shows that the value of a private certificate can depend on its issuer, since certificate holders questioned the worth of their credentials after the programme's founder changed course. Virtue's later account, as reported by the Christian Post, treats angel readings and oracle cards as divination that she regards as forbidden by scripture. Utriainen notes that a Norwegian angel-healing school prompted public discussion about the boundaries of proper Lutheran religion.

No safety data located

No study of adverse effects of Angel Therapy was found, so common effects, rare complications and contraindications are unknown from the sources reviewed. The practice is described in the sources as conversational, card-based or prayer-based and not as physical, but no source states this as a safety finding. A lack of reports should not be read as showing that harm cannot occur, for example distress from a reading or financial loss.

Care boundaries and consumer considerations

Angel Therapy is not a medical or mental health treatment, and it should not delay or replace necessary assessment or care. Anyone with new, worsening or severe symptoms, or in distress, can consult a doctor or a mental health professional. The Calgary Journal counsellor's warning concerns people who are suffering, and the Wild Hunt report concerns paid certification. People considering a reading or course can ask what is included, what it costs, whether refunds are available and whether the practitioner makes health claims.

Training and regulation

The sources reviewed identify no statutory regulator, licensing body or independent standard for Angel Therapy in any country. The one certification scheme described, under Virtue's Earth Angel brand, was privately run, and its reported credentials included Angel Therapy Practitioner. Whether any other training body operates, and how it is governed, was not established. Requirements differ by country and region, and no jurisdiction was checked.