Joanna Bettmann Schaefer, Professor of Social Work, Ph.D, LCSW

Joanna Bettmann Schaefer is a Professor at the University of Utah College of Social Work and a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. She received her B.A. with honors from Dartmouth College in 1993, her MSW from the University of Utah in 1999, and her Ph.D from Smith College School for Social Work in 2005. Dr. Schaefer has received numerous honors, including the 2023 Betty van der Smitten Distinguished Researcher Award from the Association for Experiential Education, the Council on Social Work Education’s Summer Scholarship for Harvard Institutes of Higher Education, the Dean’s Faculty Excellence in Teaching Award, and the Psychoanalytic Psychodynamic Research Society Award. She serves as clinical faculty in the University of Utah department of Psychiatry. She worked as a field staff, therapist, director, and researcher in wilderness therapy and residential treatment settings for more than 20 years. She also worked as a clinical social worker in community mental health agencies, the University of Utah Counseling Center, and private practice. She served as a social worker for the American Red Cross disaster response to Hurricane Katrina in Utah and Mississippi. Dr. Schaefer’s research focuses on nature’s impact on mental health, wilderness therapy, residential treatment, and attachment. She is the Editor in Chief of the Journal of Experiential Education.