Van Meter Wellness Solutions, LLC provides training and education on programs and techniques to combat addiction and to promote a healthy, balanced addiction-free lifestyle.
Mike is the Founder and Director of Van Meter Wellness Solutions, LLC. With over 30 years of military, corrections, police, and FBI experience, Mike has seen first-hand the devastating effects of addiction on the public, his profession, and himself.
Mike began his professional career in the United States Navy as a helicopter pilot. He served during Desert Shield and Desert Storm. After eight years of military service, he decided to pursue a career in law enforcement. He worked as a Corrections Officer in the Charles County Jail in La Plata, MD and then as a Police Officer in Washington, DC. Rotating shift work, extreme fatigue, and chronic stress were commonplace.
In 1999, Mike became an FBI Agent. He worked Health Care Fraud, Organized Crime, and Domestic Terrorism cases. Ten years later in 2010, Michael became an instructor at the FBI Academy in Quantico, VA teaching new FBI agents. He eventually moved over to the FBI National Academy teaching Police Executives. In 2013, he was given the opportunity to create and teach a course titled “Leading At-Risk Employees” which focuses on understanding alcoholism, prescription drug abuse, PTSD, suicide, and domestic violence as it relates to programs, policies, and procedures for law enforcement agencies worldwide. At the same time, Mike also became an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) Counselor/Coordinator and Suicide Prevention Counselor for the FBI Training Division. In 2019, Mike retired from the FBI but his passion for helping others continued. In August 2022, he graduated with a Master’s Degree in Addiction Counseling: Integrated Recovery for Co-Occurring Disorders from the Hazelden Betty Ford Graduate School of Addiction Studies. Mike is currently working as a Behavioral Health Therapist at a large nonprofit hospital.
Mike combines personal and professional insight to have open, compassionate conversations about addiction, recovery, mental health, and healing. Joined by his wife Lillie, they discuss ways to break stigma and offer encouragement, support, and practical resources—reminding every listener that no one is alone, and that recovery is possible.
LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ssa-michael-vanmeter-retired-514a9671
