About the founder
Michelle Muething, LPC
As long as I can remember, I have always had curiosity for human behavior. In 1999 I received my graduate degree in Clinical Psychology from Western Carolina University. My first position was as crisis responder in South Carolina. The work was energizing and an instant fit.
In 2001 I took a job as a crisis clinician in Indianapolis. With amazing mentors, law enforcement and EMS guidance, and a team I loved, I found my area of expertise ~ crisis ~ working in the trenches! During the day I'd teach classes at 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, I met my husband; tenured paramedic, police officer, and tactical medic on the Indianapolis SWAT team. Our lives were full of 911 calls, high adrenaline, and I learned more about the world of first response than I ever imagined.
In December, 2009, my family and I relocated to the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. Here I was asked to join a foundation that was forming a new agency in the Roaring Fork Valley. With crisis as the agency’s focus, I brought my skills to the table. The Aspen Hope Center opened June 1, 2010, and I was one of the first two mobile crisis clinicians on the team. Again, doing crisis work and educating law enforcement, I found myself back with my two passions. In 2013, I proudly accepted the position of Executive Director and worked locally and around the state, consulting and helping to stand up other mobile crisis and co-response teams.
With 25 years in the field, I've seen little in the way of true, in-person training for crisis workers from individuals who have actually done the frontline work. Hence, I created a training program and founded Frontline Crisis Academy in the spring of 2021. Thus far I have trained crisis teams, LEOs, and EMS staff in WA, SC, NY, MA, CO, ME, FL, CT, OR and even travelled to Singapore to work with teams there. I also proudly joined the consultant advisory team at the SAMHSA Gains Center's Policy Research Associates providing subject matter expertise to grantees around the US.
I 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!