Course Instructors

Mike is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Clinical Fellow and Supervisor with the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT). He also has 40 years’ experience as a trainer and supervisor of family therapists, including as adjunct faculty for several accredited Masters programs. Currently Mike is working part-time at Seattle Counseling Services for Sexual Minorities as a supervisor for staff working on licensing and with interns. He also is adjunct faculty at Seattle University teaching clinical classes for student in their internships. He has been teaching the Fundamentals of Supervision for 20 years, both in-person and online for WAMFT and AAMFT.

John Robbins, LMFT

Dr. John Robbins, LMFT is a Core Faculty member for Walden University's Clinical Mental Health Program. He is an AAMFT Clinical Fellow and Approved Supervisor, providing clinical supervision for professionals seeking licensure. Dr. Robbins’ professional passion is twofold: training student and Associate mental health professionals in the practice of marriage and family therapy and training supervisors in working with new counselors in the mental health field. Prior to joining Walden, he served as the Director of Clinical Training for the MS-MFT program at Argosy University - Salt Lake City. Dr. Robbins has done extensive work and training for mental health professionals in self-care, creative ways of practice, expanding maneuverability and range in the counseling room, and maintaining a self-reflective habit as a clinician. He has over 100 presentations focusing on these topics, as well as counselor self-care, at-risk adolescents, and suicide prevention. In 2000, he received national acclaim in USA Today for his cutting-edge work in the area of integrating spirituality and psychotherapy. His book with Haworth Press, entitled The Power of Spirituality in Therapy: Integrating Spiritual and Religious Beliefs in Mental Health Practice, was published in 2004.

Dr. Reo Leslie is the Director of the Colorado School for Family Therapy. He has been an AAMFT Approved Supervisor since 1996 and is a LPC, a LAC, and is a LMFT in Colorado, Hawaii, and Louisiana. Dr. Leslie has taught MFT on the Masters and Doctoral level at Argosy University. Along with his wife, Dr. Evelyn Leslie, he helped rewrite the Colorado Mental Practice Act (12-245) at the State Capitol in 2019. Dr. Leslie is a three time Gubernatorial appointee in Colorado. He has helped draft legislation since 2007 and authored two bills related to the mental profession, HB14-1271 and HB17-1011, that were passed unanimously by both houses of the Colorado General Assembly. On January 22, 2018 Dr. Leslie received an award from the Speaker of the Colorado House, President of the Colorado Senate, and the Black Democratic Caucus for his legislative and community service. In October 2021 Dr. Leslie was appointed Colorado Family TEAM Leader.

Assistant Professor Dr. Selenga Gürmen graduated summa cum laude from Bogazici University with a BA in Psychology in 2010. She obtained her Masters and PhD in in Marriage and Family Therapy from University of Connecticut in 2012 and 2015, respectively. Currently, she is an assistant professor in Psychology department at Ozyegin University, Istanbul, Turkey. She is teaching both undergraduate and graduate classes and supervising MFT trainees.

Her research on Marriage and Family Therapy field focuses mostly on issues around co-parenting, divorce, and high-conflict therapy. Dr. Gürmen adapts the family systems approach to macro-level complex societal problems (climate change, energy and resource crisis, gender inequality, violence etc.) to assess the dynamics of collective behavior change and develop models for intervention and prevention strategies.