UNIONDALE, NY / ACCESS Newswire / February 26, 2025 / Marquis Who's Who honors Michael H. Heuer, MA, MEd, PhD, for his service in the military, academia and marriage and family counseling. Dr. Heuer is the owner of MH Life Consulting, through which he provides seminar training and fulfills speaking engagements throughout the USA. Since 2018 he has also served as an independent contractor with LivingWorks Education, a leading global provider of suicide intervention training headquartered in Calgary, Alberta. He is a trainer, instructor and seminar leader specializing in suicide prevention and intervention skills training for civilians and military personnel. Dr. Heuer also serves as a director on the board of directors for the Military Chaplains Association of the USA.
Military Leadership and Dedication
Dr. Heuer started his military career in the U.S. Air Force Reserve from 1984 to 1993. He then joined the active duty force in 1993 and served until his retirement in January 2018. During his distinguished career, Dr. Heuer served in various roles and capacities as a chaplain in different world regions. His series of promotions began in 1990 when he was promoted from the rank of first lieutenant to captain in the U.S. Air Force Reserve before entering active duty in 1993. Seven years later, in 2000, he advanced to major, a rank he held until he was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 2006. He maintained that rank until 2011, when he became a colonel in the U.S. Air Force and served as the Joint Base San Antonio Senior Chaplain.
Between 2013 and 2017, Dr. Heuer served as the National Security Agency Staff Chaplain, a role in which he was the senior chaplain within the United States Intelligence Community and coordinated chaplain support among various agencies and international partners. His contributions to the Department of Defense were recognized with various awards, including the Defense Superior Service Medal awarded by Secretary of Defense James Mattis (General, USMC, Retired). Notably, Dr. Heuer served during this period on a strategic-level Interagency Policy Committee (IPC) in which he contributed to the "National Strategy on Integrating Religious Leader and Faith Community Engagement into U.S. Foreign Policy" document, which influenced the National Security Strategy of 2014. As a result of his service on this IPC, he was invited as a White House guest to the U.S. welcoming ceremony for Pope Francis in September 2015.
Academic Contributions and Global Reach in Education
Outside active duty, Dr. Heuer has been involved with academia within and outside the military. He has served as a teaching assistant, an instructor, an associate professor and adjunct faculty in various institutions, including Bob Jones University from 1978 to 1984, Western Reformed Seminary from 1987 to 1990, the United States Air Force Chaplain Corps College from 2001 to 2003, University of Maryland Global Campus, Kuwait from 2010 to 2011 and Denver Seminary from 2017 to 2018. He has also authored several published articles. Since his retirement from active duty in January 2018, Dr. Heuer has been an independent contractor with LivingWorks Education as a trainer and as a coach training and mentoring new trainers.
Living Works produces the most widely utilized materials for worldwide suicide prevention and intervention, with evidence-based resources available in multiple languages. Its flagship programs are ASIST (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training) and safeTALK (Tell, Ask, Listen and Keep Safe). ASIST is the organization's original and more comprehensive program, while safeTALK offers a shorter, introductory approach to suicide alertness, summarizing its four core steps in the program's title. In 2023 Dr. Heuer received a LivingWorks Gold Award as one of the top 5 USA trainers, having delivered over 160 safeTALK workshops around the world. He also received recognition for coaching approximately 100 safeTALK Training for Trainers events, more than anyone else in LivingWorks Education's history, which produced more than 1,000 new trainers in suicide alertness skills.
Suicide Intervention Training through Living Works
The rising suicide rates in America, including within the military, have heightened the demand for these evidence-based programs. Dr. Heuer emphasizes that when organizations implement Living Works programs systematically, they effectively reduce the number of suicide deaths. This is achieved by training more individuals to recognize signs of distress, initiate conversations, and develop a "safe-for-now" immediate safety plan before referring individuals for possible longer-term care after the initial intervention.
Dr. Heuer is determined to continue his current work in suicide intervention skills training, especially with the military, and is also looking to expand into new areas. He believes that the rising suicide rates in both the civilian and military sectors in the United States require his continued focus. He has already had the opportunity to conduct training in Korea, Japan, England, Germany, Italy, Greece, Türkiye, Kuwait, Africa and Australia, which he found to be very rewarding, and he hopes to expand further internationally. Leveraging his credentials as a marriage and family therapist and a clinical fellow in the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, he plans to help individuals and families, as well as train others through workshops and training programs. While still on active duty, Dr. Heuer developed a training curriculum in Solution-Focused Brief Counseling, which he delivered to various Army and Air Force audiences to equip caregivers with an intervention model well-suited to the fast-paced military lifestyle.
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