Dr. Bethanie Brogli Opell earned her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Kentucky, followed by her Master’s (1998) and Specialist (2001) degrees in School Psychology. She completed her specialist-level internship in Grant County in 2001 and subsequently joined Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS), where she completed her doctoral internship the following year.

Dr. Brogli Opell dedicated 22 years to JCPS, where she provided comprehensive psychoeducational assessment, consultation, and intervention services across a wide range of settings, including elementary, middle, and high schools, as well as state agency, residential, and hospital environments. Her work consistently reflected a commitment to supporting the academic, social, emotional, and behavioral needs of diverse student populations.

In 2018, she earned her Doctorate of Education in Educational Leadership. Her doctoral research focused on identifying protective factors that mitigate secondary traumatic stress among crisis response practitioners—work that continues to inform her leadership and practice in the field.

For the final 14 years of her tenure at JCPS, Dr. Brogli Opell played a pivotal leadership role in the development and implementation of comprehensive, best-practice models for school-based crisis prevention, response, and recovery. She is a nationally recognized trainer in the PREPaRE model of school crisis prevention and intervention and holds trainer certifications in Mental Health First Aid and the Comprehensive School Threat Assessment Guidelines (CSTAG). Her areas of expertise include suicide prevention, trauma-informed care, and the implementation of evidence-based frameworks such as Sources of Strength.

In her current role as Crisis Consultant with OVEC, Dr. Brogli Opell is committed to building sustainable capacity across the 14 member districts by providing high-quality, research-based training and consultation in crisis prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery. She also serves as a key resource at the regional and state levels, supporting large-scale crisis response efforts and advancing best practices in school safety and mental health.