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Monday 8:30am - 5:30pm Tuesday 8:30am - 5:30pm Wednesday 8:30am - 5:30pm Thursday 8:30am - 5:30pm Friday 8:30am - 5:30pm

Michael R. Whitehead, PhD, LMFT

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Twin Falls, ID
Michael R. Whitehead, PhD, LMFT

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Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist I work with couples, families, individuals and children.

My passion is working with parents and children to resolve family conflict problems. Part of that process is making sure the couple relationship is strong. To register for the Parenting Class go here: https://aspengrovetherapy.com/defiance/

10/29/2026

Last week: gut feelings aren't gatekeeping. Here's a scenario from the workshop that shows why.

You pull a random recording of a supervisee with a 7-year-old client. The child is yelling and threatening to hit. Your supervisee looks overwhelmed and unsure. Then you read the case note, and it doesn't match what you just watched.

Without the recording, you'd never have known. With it, you have a teaching moment, and possibly an ethical problem to address.

How would you bring it up without crushing their confidence? We'll practice exactly this kind of conversation in the workshop.

Dec 3–5 · Live online · https://www.aspengrovetherapy.com/product/suptraining_id/

10/28/2026

📅 SAVE THE DATE

The Private Practice Externship is coming in January 2027!

A 12-month small-group training where I'll teach clinicians how to build an ethical, sustainable private practice, using the same systems I've built at Aspen Grove Family Therapy since 2019.

🗓️ Applications open: Nov 23, 2026
🗓️ Program begins: Jan 14, 2027
💻 24 live virtual sessions, twice a month
👥 Up to 10 clinicians

After more than a decade of teaching and training, here's what recent attendees have said:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "One of the best trainings I've attended."
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "The most helpful presentation I've been to in a long time!"
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "THE BEST training on this topic EVER!"

Details are tentative and will be finalized when applications open.

Tag a clinician who's dreaming of private practice 👇

10/27/2026

Early in my career, a mom broke down in my office. A psychologist had just told her that her seven-year-old's ODD diagnosis meant the best she could hope for was that he'd stay out of jail.

I'd been reading the research. It said the opposite. There was hope, and lots of it.

Fifteen years and hundreds of families later, I've been shot with Nerf bullets, spit on, and gone home with a few bruises. Not one of those kids was beyond hope. I wrote this book so more clinicians, schools and parents can see that too.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1683738675

10/26/2026

Why does it matter whether supervisors watch?

In one study, 75% of supervisors said they "just followed their gut" and decided within the first 3–6 months that a clinician was good.

That's a gatekeeping decision. It affects the clinician's career and every client they see after licensure. If we're making it on a feeling and a few case summaries, we're guessing.

Live and video supervision replaces the guess with something you can actually see.

That's what we'll dig into on Day 3 of the workshop, Dec 3–5.

Register: https://www.aspengrovetherapy.com/product/suptraining_id/

10/24/2026

🎤 Calling all Magic Valley mental health providers! 🌿

We’re looking for presenters for the 2027 Magic Valley Mental Health Providers CE Series! If you have expertise in a specialty, population, or modality, we’d love to have you share it with your colleagues.

Every presentation keeps quality training local and gives back. 100% of live registration fees are donated to The FLUD Foundation (The Foundation for Lighting Up the Dark). 💛

A huge thank you to the community providers who have already shared their expertise with us:

✨ Dr. Zach Morairty – Psychiatric Medications and Ethics for Counselors
✨ Dr. Kelsie Hendrickson, Holly Anderson, and Olivia Cox – Eating Disorders
✨ Carl Weeks – Neurofeedback
✨ Kathy Couch and Dr. Michelle Harcourt – Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy

Events are typically held on the fourth Friday of each month. Our 2027 calendar is wide open, and we need more voices from our provider community to keep the series going!

👉 Interested in presenting? Fill out the Presenter Interest Form:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfVFlPulNnG4tDdsg9TVazS63N2zwHOLtl0Rx70bxlkWflwqg/viewform

📅 Learn more about the series: https://www.aspengrovetherapy.com/mvmhce/
💛 Learn more about FLUD: https://theflud.org/

Know someone who would be a great presenter? Tag them below! 👇

10/23/2026

🌿 A heartfelt thank you to Dr. Zach X. Morairty, MD! 🌿

Today Dr. Morairty presented Psychiatric Medications and Ethics for Counselors as part of our Magic Valley Mental Health Providers CE Series. He brought a psychiatrist’s perspective on medication classes, therapist–prescriber co-management, and Black Box Warning for clients under 25. Those who attended came away better equipped to collaborate on care for the clients we share.

Dr. Morairty donated his time, and every registration fee went to charity. Together we raised $560 for The FLUD Foundation (The Foundation for Lighting Up the Dark)! 💛

Thank you to Dr. Morairty and ZXM Psychiatry PC, and to every provider who attended and gave.

Learn more about FLUD: https://theflud.org/
Learn more about Dr. Morairty: www.zxmpsychiatry.com

Better Collaboration → Better Care → Brighter Futures

10/22/2026

On Monday I asked how much of your supervision was your supervisor actually watching you work. Here's how we got here.

Early on, "supervision" was really therapy from a mentor. Clinicians picked a mentor who shared their philosophy and met to talk through their countertransference.

As the field grew more aware of dual relationships, that shifted to mentorship, and then to supervision as we know it once licensure required it. When AAMFT built its Approved Supervisor program, it required direct observation: of the supervisor's supervision and of the therapist's clinical work.

Observation was built into good supervision from the start. Somewhere along the way, many of us stopped doing it.

10/20/2026

Kids with "bad" behavior aren't inherently "bad" kids. And behavior problems don't happen in isolation, so why do we treat them like they do?

My book, Treating Children with Disruptive Behavior Disorders, lays out Integrative Systemic Play Therapy (ISPT): a family-focused, phasic approach for kids ages 2–17 with oppositional, aggressive or antisocial behavior. It's packed with handouts, case examples and step-by-step interventions you can use this week.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1683738675

10/19/2026

Think back to your own supervision. How much of it was your supervisor watching you do therapy, and how much was you describing what happened?

For most of us, supervision ran on self-report. We told the story of the session, and our supervisor responded to the story. The story is never the whole session.

Over the next few weeks I'll share why I think live and video supervision is the most underused tool we have, and what it takes to do it well. It's the heart of a workshop I'm teaching this December.

Fundamentals of Effective Clinical Supervision Dec 3–5 · 9am–3pm

Live online via Google Meet 15 CE hours · Meets Idaho's 15-hour supervisor training requirement for LCPCs, LMFTs and LCSWs Register: https://www.aspengrovetherapy.com/product/suptraining_id/

10/17/2026

Supervision isn’t just signing off on hours. Research shows supervised therapists build stronger alliances, and their clients do better.

Day 1: What clinical supervision is (and isn’t), live supervision skills, and fair rates and contracts
Day 2: Documentation, supervision models, and your supervision philosophy
Day 3: Gatekeeping vs. remediation, corrective action plans, and Idaho LCPC/LMFT/LCSW rules

Dec 3–5 · 15 CE hours · $300. The link to register is in my bio.

Address

762 Falls Avenue
Twin Falls, ID
83301

Opening Hours

Monday	8:30am - 5:30pm
Tuesday	8:30am - 5:30pm
Wednesday	8:30am - 5:30pm
Thursday	8:30am - 5:30pm
Friday	8:30am - 5:30pm

Website

http://AspenGroveTherapy.com/, https://www.amazon.com/Treating-Children-Disruptive-Behavior-Disorders/dp/1683738675, htt

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