In October of 2010, Michael Porter joined our team at Aspen Achievement Academy as our newest clinical team member and licensed substance abuse counselor in conjunction with our recovery group. Previous to joining Aspen Achievement, Michael worked for 5 years as a wilderness guide for Passages to Recovery, and worked as a residential staff at Aspen Ranch, a therapeutic boarding school, which is where he first realized that there actually were programs available to help people addicted to drugs and alcohol This was an important discovery to Michael because he had lost a great native friend to alcohol.
Michael received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Utah State University and is a licensed substance abuse counselor. Hel has extensive wilderness experience, having grown up on a farm at the base of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in northern California, where he hiked and camped year round. In addition, Michael lived among the native people of the Amazon jungle for 10 years, where he also guided European tourists through forest and rivers.
As the substance abuse counselor for Aspen Achievement Academy's recovery group, Michael carries the torch for substance abuse recovery at the academy, implementing changes and working with the staff on necessary trainings in order to maintain the quality of the 12 step and recovery group sessions that students participate in daily. Michael is a strong advocate for the use of 12 step principles because among other benefits, they have such an amazing system of support groups available to our graduated students all over the country, and even the world.
Michael and Aaron Shaw, PhD, LMFT, another of our Wilderness Therapists, both visit the recovery groups weekly, allowing us to have a clinical team member in the groups four days a week. Aaron typically goes to the group on Monday's and Tuesdays. Michael goes out on Wednesday's and Thursdays. While in the field Michael runs the substance abuse groups, meets with the boys to discuss recovery and helps the group members work on the first three steps of the twelve steps
Aspen Achievement Academyis a licensed wilderness therapy program located in the high desert of southern Utah that provides at-risk adolescents ages 13 to 17 with experiences that promote the development of self-discipline, confidence, problem-solving skills and a healthy lifestyle. Using insight-oriented individual, group and family therapy and modern rites of passage, troubled teens identify healthy ways to bridge the gap between adolescence and adulthood.