Ann Veilleux Uses Energy Healing to Take Talk Therapy to New Levels

The following describes how I use energy and its perception with conventional therapy and is reproduced with permission from an article in Natural Awakenings of South Central Wisconsin by Sheila Julson.

Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker Ann Veilleux has been a therapist for almost 40 years, using Gestalt therapy, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, mindfulness and other approaches. Only recently has she come out publically to say, for those interested, that she also integrates energy work into her therapy. Veilleux has guided people through spiritual awakenings, helped those who thought they were “too sensitive” and taught people how to use their bodies as a tool of perception.

Veilleux, a native of Brooklyn, New York, earned a bachelor’s degree in education from Purdue University in 1969, and she later pursued a master’s degree in social work from UW-Madison when she moved to Wisconsin in 1980. Shortly after achieving her Master of Science in Social Work, she, along with some colleagues, opened Harmonia Madison Center for Psychotherapy. It was also around that time that Veilleux had discovered her psychic abilities.

“In my 40s, I went through a personal healing crisis, and at that time I found out that I was psychic,” says Veilleux. “I have practiced meditation since my 20s, and I have been interested in spiritual development for a long time.”

Veilleux has studied with a variety of teachers who have helped open her to her own natural abilities as a healer. Three years ago she opened an office in the Quarry Arts Building, where she feels at home among the holistic and alternative practitioners within that space.

Veilleux works with a wide span of problems including identity disorder; couples therapy; depression; anxiety and bipolar disorders; personality disorders; and PTSD. She is happy to work with people who are most comfortable with regular talk therapy as well as those interested in exploring the different ways she uses energy work.

“It becomes apparent within the first session or two if people have an interest in energy work,” she explains, “sometimes they tell me directly, or I ask them how important religion/spirituality is in their lives. I respect the different ways people come to spirituality, whether it is from organized religion or a connection they feel with nature.”

Veilleux works with energy in different ways, one process being what she calls “a therapy session guided by the soul”. Some people are more comfortable using the term “their higher self,” or even “their unconscious”. Neither Veilleux nor the client knows what will be the focus of session, as the soul, or higher self, directs this. The work happens all on the energy level, with Veilleux directing the client’s awareness to the change that is occurring in their energy field. “Ultimately what happens is what the person is ready to do in terms of growth and change at that point in their lives, but they may not have been attending to at all,” she says.

Veilleux also does energy work through her hands, not unlike Reiki. A client can either sit or lie on a massage table, and Veilleux will assist with what energy already wants to happen, represented in the person’s energy field.

“There is an advantage to doing energy work with a healer who has psychotherapy training,” says Veilleux, adding that psychotherapy training teaches how the healing progresses works. She remembers a client who had been encouraged to continue to work through abuse memories from her past, to what Veilleux considered to be the person’s detriment. “No one can or needs to remember all of their abuse, and focusing on this keeps one ‘stuck’ at this level, to no advantage,” she remarks.

Veilleux continues to personally grow and never stops learning. Her work with spiritual teachers is ongoing, and she also keeps abreast of the latest advancements in the psychotherapy community. “You can never finish learning, and that’s how I stay inspired. I love my work and always enjoy the unique beauty of each person who comes to work with me.”

Ann Veilleux is located in the Quarry Arts Building, 715 Hill St., Ste. 250, Madison. For more information, call 608-535-9266 or visit AnnVeilleux.com.

Sheila Julson is a Milwaukee-based freelance writer and contributor to Natural Awakenings magazines throughout the country.