| Anne Wilson Schaef | |
| Birth Date: | 22 March 1934 |
| Birth Place: | Siloam Springs, Arkansas, U.S. |
| Death Place: | Arkansas, U.S. |
| Education: | Washington University in St. Louis Union Institute (PhD) |
| Fields: | Psychotherapy |
Anne Wilson Schaef (March 22, 1934 – January 19, 2020) was an American clinical psychologist and author. Her book When Society Becomes an Addict, in which she compared Western culture to an active alcoholic, made the New York Times bestseller list and was nominated for Best Political Book of the Year.
Anne Wilson Schaef was born on March 22, 1934, in Siloam Springs, Arkansas.[1] She was raised in the traditional Cherokee way by her mother and her great-grandmother, and carried the principles they taught her into her life and her work.[2]
Schaef completed her undergraduate degree in Pre-Med/Psychology at Washington University in St. Louis and went on to earn a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Union Institute in Ohio and an honorary doctorate in Human Letters from Kenyon College in Kenyon, Ohio.[3]
She went on to practice for many years in several different capacities, ranging from school psychologist to consulting for major corporations. For years she also ran her own private practice for individuals, couples and groups; major corporations; government; and profit and non-profit organizations.[4] After practicing for many years, in 1984 she left the field of psychology and psychotherapy.
Schaef then developed her own practice called Living in Process, and wrote 18 books including the New York Times bestseller When Society Becomes an Addict, where she compared western culture to an active alcoholic.[5] [6]
She was also one of the owners of Boulder Hot Springs, an historic, traditional hot springs/hotel, which a group (spearheaded by Schaef) saved from demolition in 1989.[7] This hotel has continuously been restored since then and was re-opened as an Inn, Spa, and Retreat Center in 1991.[8]
She continued to write and participate with her Living in Process network for the rest of her life. She died at her home in Arkansas on January 19, 2020, at the age of 85.
In 1981, Schaef published her book Women's Reality, which went on to become a teaching tool in women's studies and other educational programs around the world. This book, subtitled An Emerging Female System in a White Male Society was part of her lifelong work championing women's issues. She published a follow up to Women's Reality in 2016 with a book titled There Will Be a Thousand Years of Peace and Prosperity and They Will Be Ushered in by the Women.
Schaef worked in the addiction recovery field throughout the last decades, making substantial contributions through several books, including Codependence: Misunderstood, Mistreated, which "revolutionized our understanding of the addictive process".[9] She also wrote extensively on what she saw happening in the culture while developing the Living in Process work.
Schaef's book When Society Becomes an Addict was a New York Times bestseller and nominated for Best Political Book of the Year, and several of her books have been bestsellers throughout the world. Her books have been translated into many languages and one of her daily meditation books, Meditations for Women Who Do Too Much, sold millions of copies worldwide.
Schaef left the field of psychotherapy because she saw it as supporting "addictive processes that promote codependency and interfere with the people's need—and right—to heal themselves".[10] Schaef began holding "Living Process Intensives", meditation sessions, claiming that "trusting the process" is sufficient to effect healing.