Title: 1) Owner; 2) Trainer, Seminar Presenter, Instructor, and Coach
Company: 1) MH Life Consulting; 2) Living Works Education
Location: Annapolis, Maryland, United States
Michael H. Heuer, MA, MEd, PhD, owner of MH Life Consulting, and trainer, seminar presenter, instructor, and coach at Living Works Education, has been recognized by Marquis Who’s Who Top Military for dedication, achievements, and leadership in the Armed Forces and mental health.
With four decades of experience, Dr. Heuer has built a successful career in military service, ministry, and mental health, specializing in suicide prevention, intervention chaplaincy, and solution-focused counseling techniques. He currently excels as the owner of MH Life Consulting, a position he has held since 2018, and has also been a trainer and coach with LivingWorks Education as an independent contractor since that year. LivingWorks, headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, is a global leader in suicide intervention training, offering widely used evidence-based multilingual resources like its flagship programs, Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) and safeTALK, an introductory suicide alertness program. His experience includes roles as an associated faculty member at Denver Seminary from 2017 to 2018 and as the National Security Agency staff chaplain from 2013 to 2017, in which position he was the senior chaplain in the United States Intelligence Community.
Before these roles, Dr. Heuer served as Joint Base San Antonio senior chaplain in the U.S. Air Force from 2011 to 2013 and as adjunct faculty member at the University of Maryland Global Campus in Kuwait from 2010 to 2011. His additional positions include agency staff chaplain for the U.S. Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) Agency from 2009 to 2011, wing chaplain at the 70th ISR Wing from 2005 to 2009, and installation chaplain at RAF Alconbury in the UK from 2003 to 2005 where he received recognition as Outstanding Field Grade Officer of the Quarter. Dr. Heuer also served as an adjunct faculty member for the USAF Chaplain Corps College while assigned as the deputy wing chaplain at Maxwell AFB from 2001 to 2003.
In addition, as one of the top 20 per cent of majors in his peer group, the Air Force selected Dr. Heuer to study at the Air Command and Staff College in residence from 2000 to 2001, completing a degree in military operational art and science. He served as a chaplain at Ramstein Air Base in Germany from 1997 to 2000 and was selected as the Ramstein Company Grade Officer of the Year. In Colorado, Dr. Heuer served at Buckley AFB from 1994 to 1997 where he received recognition as Outstanding Company Grade Officer of the Quarter and at the Lowry Training Center from 1993 to 1994. His military career began as a lieutenant and captain in the Air Force Reserve from 1984 to 1993, during which time he served at Charleston AFB, Shaw AFB, and Joint Base Lewis-McChord.
Dr. Heuer’s active-duty service in the U.S. Air Force spanned from 1993 until the end of 2017, reaching the rank of colonel in 2011, following prior ranks as lieutenant colonel, major, and captain. Since 2018, he has served on the board of directors for the Military Chaplains Association of the USA and as the director of ministry to the Armed Forces for the Church of the Lutheran Brethren, mentoring future military chaplains and endorsing them to the U.S. Department of Defense. Before active duty, Dr. Heuer worked in academia as associate professor at Western Reformed Seminary from 1987 to 1990 and teaching assistant in German and ancient Greek at Bob Jones University from 1978 to 1984.
Dr. Heuer has made significant contributions to his field through works such as “On Suicide” in Identity magazine, “An Evaluation of John W. Burgon’s Use of Patristic Evidence” in the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, and his dissertation, “The Bibliology of the Early Church Fathers to AD 450.” Since 2018, he has served on the board of directors for the North River Forest Property Owners Association, supported suicide prevention initiatives at Fort George G. Meade, and served as a part-time chaplain at Ginger Cove Retirement Community since 2021. In 2023, LivingWorks Education presented him with its “Gold Award” as one of the top five USA trainers, having delivered over 160 safeTALK workshops, and also recognized him for coaching over 1,000 new trainers in suicide alertness skills at approximately 100 training for trainers (T4T) events, setting a record at LivingWorks Education.
During his final active duty assignment, Dr. Heuer served on a strategic-level Interagency Policy Committee (IPC) in Washington, D.C. through 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. For his exemplary service and influence across several Department of Defense agencies, Secretary of Defense James Mattis (General, USMC, Retired) approved and signed Dr. Heuer’s Defense Superior Service Medal presented in 2017.
Laying a strong educational foundation, Dr. Heuer earned a New York Regents Diploma with a concentration in music in 1974, completed coursework at Buffalo State University, then achieved a Bachelor of Arts in music in 1977, a Master of Arts in religion in 1980, and a PhD in religion in 1988, all from Bob Jones University. He expanded his qualifications with a Master of Education in mental health counseling from the University of Puget Sound in 1990 and a Master of Military Operational Art and Science from the USAF Air Command and Staff College in 2001. His professional credentials include clinical fellow of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy since 1999 and certification as a safeTALK coach and ASIST consulting trainer with LivingWorks Education since 2009.
In the coming years, Dr. Heuer remains especially committed to his work in suicide alertness and intervention skills training, particularly within the military, and is exploring new areas for expanding his impact. With the rising suicide rates in both civilian and military populations in the U.S., he sees this work as essential. Having conducted rewarding training sessions in Korea, Japan, England, Germany, Italy, Greece, Türkiye, Kuwait, Africa, and Australia, he hopes to further extend his efforts internationally.
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