About Ann

Ann Silvers
My backgrounds in both science and psychology help me turn challenging elusive subjects like emotions into something you can easily see, understand, and use effectively to make your life better.

People often respond to my explanations with comments like "Now I get it" or "Now it makes sense."

I haven't always been a counselor.

During my first career, I was a Medical Lab Tech working in Microbiology labs in a couple of large hospitals in Canada. (You might think that microbiology is a long way from counseling, but I find that my science background brings surprising benefits to my current work as a counselor and author.)

Back to the beginning--I was a lab tech, then I was a stay-at-home mom.

When I was pregnant with my first child, I dove into learning everything I could about parenting because I didn't want to parent the way I was parented. (I was raised by two alcoholics.) A big part of my learning focused on communication skills.

When my children were young, two things happened that set my course toward a counseling career: I was invited to teach a local counselor's parenting class and I had my own childhood therapy.

I decided that when I was ready to return to the paid work force, I wanted to work with humans, not microorganisms. I wanted to help other people experience the positive changes I felt from my own therapy and self-help discoveries.

So--while I took advantage of opportunities to teach communication and relationship skills workshops, I went back to school to get degrees in psychology and counseling. (By that time, I had moved with my family to the Seattle area in the US.)

Over decades of working with people in groups, and as individuals and couples, I created materials that I eventually turned into card sets, books, and recordings that I published so that more people could benefit from the products that are the result of years of experimenting with using and improving.

My approach to writing books is--cut to the chase.

I work hard to write in a way that hones in quickly on the important aspects of topics so the reader doesn't have to wade through fluff, and systematically breaks down a topic into steps that are easy to grasp and use. Getting rid of the extraneous stuff is harder than you might think, but I think it's worth it. I work hard so you don't have to.

My approach to working with clients combines both art and science.

The science of counseling and coaching is contained in theories and techniques with names like cognitive-behavioral, systems, psychodynamic, hypnosis ... The art is combining these with personal experience and applying them in a mixture that helps each unique client.

"The personality of the therapist is the most important human element in the therapeutic process."
—Thomas Tyndall

People describe me as:

"easy to connect with"
"great sense of humor"
"courageous"
"resourceful"
"patient"
"energetic"
"flexible"
"creative"
"positive"
"considerate"
"logical"
"pragmatic"
"skill building"

Education

Degree in Medical Laboratory Technology, Mohawk Community College, Hamilton, ON, Canada
Associate of Arts Degree, Edmonds Community College, Edmonds, WA, USA
Bachelor of Science in Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
Masters of Arts in Psychology (MA), Mental Health Counseling, Antioch University, Seattle, WA, USA

Professional Training

Mediation & Conflict Resolution
VIP (Vital, Intentional & Personally Rewarding) Parenting Facilitation
The Virtues Project Facilitation
Hypnotherapy
Collaborative Divorce Coaching
Certificate in Neuroscience for Clinical Practice: Applying Neuroscience for Treatment of Trauma, Anxiety and Stress Disorders
Hypnosis for Trauma & PTSD Certificate
Mental Health Integrative Medicine Certified Provider
EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques)
Certificate in Clinical Anxiety Treatment
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): Core Skills and Competencies