MIKE KNUDSON

I grew up in the small town of Arcadia, Wisconsin, on a small farm until I was 13. After high school, I knew I wanted a career in the military, so I joined the National Guard unit in my hometown as part of an Infantry unit. That led to my first deployment, to Iraq.

When I came home, I transitioned to the Reserves as a Combat Engineer, and it wasn't long before I deployed again, this time to Afghanistan. I also took part in an international training exercise in Germany. Over the years I held a lot of different roles: Truck Gunner, Master Machine Gunner, Truck Commander, Anti-Terrorism Officer for my unit, Suicide Prevention Instructor, and Squad Leader, leading a platoon of 20. I retired as a Staff Sergeant in 2022, closing out a career I'm proud of.

What I didn't talk about for a long time was the toll it took on my mental health. I know now I wasn't alone in that — many  of the people I served with carried the same weight. What changed things for me was discovering NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming), MER (Mental and Emotional Release), and Hypnotherapy. Those tools gave me a way through it that nothing else had.

Now I use what I've learned to guide other veterans through the same techniques, and I keep expanding on what works. I do this to honor the comrades I stood alongside, and because I'm committed to helping reduce the number of veterans we lose to suicide.  As an instructor with Healing Warrior Hearts, I get to help make that happen every time I lead a retreat.