Heroes National Instructor Spotlight

Emily Oosterhouse — Licensed Professional Counselor

Emily Oosterhouse has served as a Heroes National Instructor since 2023 while working as the Clinic Manager at Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services. Her passion for active bystandership is rooted in her years working in corrections, where she witnessed situations that challenged her personal values of caring for and supporting others. Through experience and continued learning, she developed the confidence and skills to intervene effectively and now shares those lessons with others, helping public safety professionals build those same skills earlier in their careers.

For Emily, active bystandership is about living one’s values through action, even in difficult moments. She believes the greatest barrier to intervention is fear, whether it’s fear of judgment, making a mistake, or facing retaliation. During training, she encourages participants to think beyond the immediate situation and consider how they could feel afterward. She emphasizes that acting in alignment with their values leads to greater integrity and peace of mind.

Emily is especially passionate about bringing Heroes training to public safety professionals because of the high-pressure decisions they face every day. She believes active bystandership is a learned skill that strengthens teams, improves decision-making, and creates a culture where colleagues support one another before problems escalate. As a National Instructor, the most rewarding part of her work is connecting with professionals across the country and knowing that even one new idea or tool can create a lasting positive impact within their agencies.

Outside of training, Emily enjoys bringing humor and authenticity to her work. She still laughs about an early Heroes training where participants jokingly believed she was a “plant” from Norway because of her last name. When she’s not working, she can often be found on the tennis court, competing on several teams throughout the year with the goal of qualifying for nationals.