Holding considerable expertise in learning disabilities and personal growth methods, Dr. Ann K. Schafer began her journey at the University of California Davis, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in psychology in 1970 and a Master of Arts in educational psychology in 1978. She began her career as a professor with Sacramento City College and, in 1985, became the university’s learning disability program coordinator. That same year, she joined the Rosebridge Graduate School of Integrative Psychology, which later became part of Argosy University. Graduating with a Doctor of Philosophy in clinical psychology in 1993, she opened a private practice in Sacramento and Sonoma, California, and became licensed as a clinical psychologist in 1996. Dr. Schafer is also certified as a neuropsychologist, a reading specialist and a learning disability specialist.
Retiring from Sacramento City College as a professor emerita in 2005, Dr. Schafer maintained her private practice until 2012. For the past 10 years, she has been a writer and independent contractor with SoulGrowth.org, which has now blossomed into Soul Growth Solutions where she continues to excel as a clinical psychologist. With Soul Growth Solutions, her methods are based on psychosynthesis, a method pioneered by Dr. Roberto Assagioli, and involve teaching people how to modulate their minds and emotions through spiritual development. She is also grateful for the support and mentorship of Dr. Edith Stauffer, who wrote “Unconditional Love and Forgiveness,” and is certified in Dr. Stauffer’s “unconditional love” method. Dr. Schafer’s ultimate goal is to help people to thrive and find joy and healing in an ever-changing world.
Dr. Schafer has contributed a wide range of publications to her field throughout her career. Her first book, “Ask Dr. Ann: About Basic Skills and Learning,” was published in 1995, and recently received a second, revised edition in 2022, and her next, “Psychosynthesis for the Next Century,” was published by Psychosynthesis International in 1996. Another one of the early works, “Learning Disabilities: A Matter of Perception,” was notably distributed throughout the entire California Community Colleges system as a reference for administrators and teachers. Her upcoming publications include the article “Grief” in the 2022 anthology “Heart Notes” and her book “Soul Growth Solutions” and its accompanying online coursework program.
A sought after international speaker as well, Dr. Schafer has been featured on several podcasts and has had made speaking appearance across the United States in California, Texas, North Carolina and Washington state, and internationally in Italy. In 2022, she participated in the Sing Your Heart Song Summit, where she was a keynote speaker and presented the panel “Trauma Healing: Transforming Trauma to Soothe the Soul.” Over the course of her career, she has also been involved with a number of professional organizations, including the Association for the Advancement of Psychosynthesis, the California Psychological Association, and the Association for Psychological Type International, with which she founded the Capital City chapter.
Attributing much of her success to her mentors as well as to her own trailblazing and risk-taking attitude, Dr. Schafer is grateful to the numerous internships she held early on, which helped her to hone her knowledge and skills as a clinical psychologist. Having accomplished much throughout the years, she is particularly proud of having been the first ever learning disabilities coordinator at Sacramento City College as well as being awarded a position on the first disability appeals board for sports psychology accommodations for the California Community Colleges in 1999. Above everything, Dr. Schafer considers her most notable achievements to be the more than 40 articles she wrote for the National Literacy Coalition and her 30 years of expertise in the field.
In addition to her primary career responsibilities, Dr. Schafer has contributed her skills to a number of other civic and professional endeavors. While living in Davis, California, she was involved with several K-12 schools and spent time as a member of the Title IX committee for those schools. In 2002, she became the owner and operator of both the All Seasons Groveland Inn and Big Creek Meadow Ranch, two specialty hotels in Groveland, California. Dr. Schafer is also incredibly proud of her three children and her nine grandchildren. Her first daughter is the chief executive officer of a company, her second daughter is a French and English as a second language teacher, and her son is a jet pilot.
