About the founder
Michelle Muething, LPC
As long as she can remember, Michelle has always had curiosity for human behavior. In 1999 she proudly received her graduate degree in Clinical Psychology from Western Carolina University. Her first position was as crisis responder in South Carolina. The work was energizing and an instant fit.
In 2001 Michelle took a job as a crisis clinician in Indianapolis. With amazing mentors, law enforcement and EMS guidance, and a team she loved, Michelle found her area of expertise ~ crisis ~ working in the trenches! During the day Michelle taught classes in the Psychology Department of Indiana University/IUPUI and in the evening worked on the crisis team. These two roles allowed for teaching, continual learning, professional growth, and perfecting the skills needed for crisis work. Working daily with EMS and law enforcement, she met her husband; tenured paramedic, police officer, and tactical medic on the SWAT team. Their lives were full of 911 calls, high adrenaline, and Michelle learned more about the world of first response than she ever imagined.
In December, 2009, Michelle and her family relocated to the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. Here she was asked to join a foundation that was forming a new agency in the Roaring Fork Valley. With crisis as the agency’s focus, Michelle brought her skills to the table. The Aspen Hope Center opened June 1, 2010, and she was one of the first two mobile crisis clinicians on the team. Again, doing crisis work and educating law enforcement, Michelle found herself back with her two passions. In 2013 she accepted the position of Executive Director and has continued to train, form partnerships, and help others around the state stand up mobile crisis teams.
With twenty-three years in the field, Michelle has seen little in the way of training for crisis workers. She created a 90-day training program for the Hope Center clinicians in 2014 and kept her eye on national opportunities. When nothing seemed to be surfacing, Michelle founded Frontline Crisis Academy in the summer of 2021. Thus far she has worked with staff from twenty-seven agencies in the State of Washington, providing training in mobile crisis. In June of 2021, she presented at the 2nd Annual Co-Responder Conference, and in September of 2021, spoke at the Minnesota Crisis Symposium in St. Cloud. Michelle will always be a crisis clinician at heart and will jump to work “in the trenches” and train others to do so with efficiency, confidence, and pride!