E. Anna Goodwin (aka Ana Parker Goodwin)

E. Anna Goodwin is a psychotherapist and lecturer turned writer and professional speaker. Anna applies her extensive knowledge and experience with those suffering from trauma and stress in her highly acclaimed book, “How to Cope with Stress After a Trauma: Especially for Veterans, their Families, and Friends.” Anna also co-authored a renowned textbook for counselors and psychologists entitled “Sandplay Therapy: A Step-by-Step Manual for Psychotherapists of Diverse Orientations” and is now writing psychological suspense using her extensive knowledge of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. She lives in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.

Biography

Psychotherapist, lecturer, and workshop presenter turned writer E. Anna Goodwin graduated from the University of Maryland with a Master of Science degree in Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy. Anna practiced in the field for over twenty-five years, starting in Maryland. Anna later developed a large private practice in Montana and worked as an assistant professor at two universities. In her private practice, about half of her clients dealt with post-traumatic stress disorder (e.g., veterans of foreign wars, physically and sexually abused children or adults, and individuals caught in the effects of major trauma). During the course of her work, Anna conducted many national and state workshops and provided keynote speeches, plus spoke on radio and lectured at psychological conferences. Recently she has presented talks for writers.

Her most recent book, How to Cope with Stress after Trauma: Especially for Veterans, their Families and Friends was published in 2014 by Bitterroot Mountain Publishing. It includes information on post trauma stress, a stress questionnaire and 20 steps to recovery, plus a section on how families can help their veterans, including themselves and the children of veterans.

Anna also co-authored a well-received textbook, Sandplay Therapy: A Step-by-Step Manual for Psychotherapists of Diverse Orientations, published by W. W. Norton in January 2000. It received excellent reviews in several psychological journals, and has been translated into Chinese. Currently the book is still an international best seller in the area.

At present Anna is writing a fiction trilogy under her penname Ana Parker Goodwin about what she loves most: a mixture of psychology and mystery/suspense. Why is she writing fiction? Simple. She can create her own ending to a story, which she could not do in real life. Forbidden Justice deals with the wildly disparate views of “memory” in the field of psychology today. What is real? What is not? Her heroine, Dr. Faythe Bradington, Clinical Psychologist, is shocked to discover that a prestigious but unscrupulous law firm has filed a multimillion dollar lawsuit against her. One of her ex-clients is accusing her of implanting false memories of childhood abuse. Why? Faythe is sure she is innocent. :

In the Author’s Words:

“I grew up on a ranch near Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, attending a tiny country school until the age of 14, when I began boarding with two other girls in a town nearby so I could go to high school. Wow! Fourteen and free at last. But life on my own was not as easy as I had thought.

Many authors say they loved writing stories from the time they were very young. I can’t say that I did. My teachers told me during high school that I was a terrific technical writer, but creative writing? No way. Don’t even bother. And so I didn’t. I went to college and wrote factual material instead.

After getting married to a Californian (my dad did not approve of me marrying an American!), my new husband Ron and I left for Australia where he had been hired to study the diseases of scarab beetle grubs. Three years later we returned to the U.S. with a toddler and an incredible store of travel experiences from around the world.

We settled in Columbia, Maryland: a planned, multiracial community. Ron worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Beltsville, where he studied the viruses of the gypsy moth for its control. After our son was born I went to graduate school at the University of Maryland for my Masters degree and majored in child and adolescent psychology/psychiatry, then worked with children and adults who had been physically and sexually abused.

When we moved to Montana I started a private practice and worked with children and families with a variety of problems. Because of my knowledge about child abuse, I received several state and federal grants to lecture and work closely with Social Services to prevent abuse and treat those kids and adolescents who had been reported.

The next years, like many other people, I spent hours and hours working and the years passed into a blur of challenges and activities. Though not in order, I became a lecturer and assistant professor at two universities, a workshop presenter on several topics including Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), sandplay therapy, therapeutic storytelling, and innovative approaches to working with children. I became known as the resident PTSD from all kinds of causes.

I saw veterans, people who had been in accidents, children, teens and adults who had been physically and sexually abused, plus people who had found a parent, a mate or child after suicide. I became the state representative for sexually abused people, and with a colleague, Dr. Susan Workman, began Prevent Child Abuse in Montana. I even co-authored a book on how to do sandplay “because it was needed.”Helping people regain their lives and their joy has been my passion for many years.

And now back to my writing. At the end of my career I needed another challenge and I decided to prove my childhood teachers wrong. I began writing fiction about what I knew best. And hey, I loved mysteries, especially creating all the complicated twists and turns. As a student I had read most of Agatha Christie’s books to relax.

Even though I wrote a book for veterans and their families about how to cope with post trauma stress before it becomes a disorder, I discovered that writing psychological suspense was the most fun I had had for a long time. I studied, went to workshops, wrote and wrote some more. And here it is: Justice Forbidden.

Read it and let me know what you think!”