Dr. Joanna Bettmann has worked in the wilderness therapy field since 1994 as a director, researcher, therapist, and field instructor. She worked as a field instructor at Aspen Achievement Academy from 1994 to 1995 and as a residential staff at Aspen Ranch from 1995 to 1996. Joanna subsequently held positions as a clinical social work intern at a child day psychiatric hospital in Denver, Colorado and a community mental health center in Salt Lake City, Utah. Dr. Bettmann received her Master's in Social Work from the University of Utah Graduate School of Social Work in 1999. She then worked full time as a Field Therapist and Assistant Clinical Director at Aspen Achievement Academy in Loa, Utah.

She earned her PhD from Smith College School for Social Work in 2005. Her dissertation research explored shifts in the attachment relationships of adolescents in a leading wilderness therapy program. During her doctoral study, she worked as a senior social worker and received advanced clinical training at the University of Utah’s Counseling Center.

In 2006, Dr. Bettmann helped to found Open Sky Wilderness Therapy, a wilderness therapy program for adolescents and young adults based in Durango, Colorado. She currently serves as Open Sky's Research Director, designing and directing the longitudinal outcome research on-site.

Additionally, she holds a position as an Assistant Professor at the University of Utah College of Social Work. There she teaches clinical practice and psychological theory to master’s level students. She has published extensively on wilderness therapy outcomes as well as attachment relationships in a variety of populations. Joanna’s recent publications include articles in Clinical Social Work Journal, the Journal of Counseling Psychology, Child and Youth Care Forum, and the Journal of Therapeutic Schools and Programs. She has presented her research both nationally and internationally: at the national conferences of the National Association of Therapeutic Schools and Programs, the national conferences of the American Psychoanalytic Association, the Wilderness Therapy Symposium at Naropa University, the New Haven Psychoanalytic Research Training Program at Yale University, and the Utah Counseling Centers Conference, among many others.

A licensed clinical social worker since 2001, Dr. Bettmann maintains a private practice with adolescents and young adults in Salt Lake City. She also enjoys working with adolescents and families in wilderness settings. Wilderness therapy combines her passion for clinical work with her love of the outdoors. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, whitewater rafting, rock climbing and photography. Spending time with family and friends in the outdoors is her idea of a good time.