Dr. Joanna Bettman

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 2025 Eagle Award from the OBH Council, the 2025 Rosalind Franklin Society Special Award in Science, the 2023 Betty van der Smitten Distinguished Researcher Award from the Association for Experiential Education, the 2019 Council on Social Work Education’s Scholarship for Harvard Institutes of Higher Education, the 2013 Dean’s Faculty Excellence in Teaching Award, and the 2011 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-based interventions for mental health, wilderness therapy, residential treatment, and attachment. She is the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Experiential Education.