Katelyn Bevard
Posted by Katelyn BeVard on April 18, 2023 |
The universe recently provided an opportunity for me to adopt a puppy. I’m a single mom and I already have two dogs, so it might seem crazy that it took me less than two hours to decide that I would definitely be welcoming this pup into my home. In my defense, look at his face! On the second morning that we had Bruno in our house my son said to me, “Mom, having three dogs is kind of a lot sometimes.” Has a truer statement ever been shared? I'm the type of person that puts a lot on my plate, even after it's already full. Some people might suggest that I like chaos and therefore, I constantly welcome it into my life. We can have that debate another time. What I know for sure is that carrying so much all of the time requires consistent and strong boundaries.
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Posted by Katelyn BeVard on July 13, 2022 |
I have spent time in the wilderness in almost every condition imaginable and what I have learned over time is that every season and every element has its pros and cons. Its challenges and beautiful moments. As I begin to mentally and physically prepare for an upcoming field shift this summer, I am reminded of the unique experiences that summer in the desert brings.
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Posted by Katelyn BeVard on March 16, 2022 |
One of my favorite memories from my time as a Field Instructor, was during a week I was working with a group of adolescent girls. One of the students I was working with that week (we will call her Julie) came from a sports family. She played sports and her father was a coach for a professional sports team. She was the type of student who would put her head down and work tenaciously towards a goal, while often ignoring any emotions she was feeling. It was clear to the staff team at the time that this young person was spending a lot of energy on tasks and, in the process, ignoring her emotions.
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Posted by Katelyn BeVard on July 28, 2021 |
In May of 2009 I left my hometown in Virginia to embark on a journey to Southern Utah. I packed everything I owned in my car and headed west to start a career in wilderness therapy. I was new to the idea of a career in the outdoors after falling in love with backpacking at the conclusion of an Outward Bound course I took the previous fall.
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Posted by Katelyn BeVard on February 10, 2021 |
When I was 23, I attended a 50-day Outward Bound course in the mountains of western North Carolina. This experience propelled me into the career I have today and was the beginning of many years spent devoted to the wilderness. After I completed my course, I decided to make a blog out of the many journal entries I went home with. One of the blogs I wrote was called, Everything Is Better in the Wilderness. I remarked on several days that were incredibly challenging during that course, but how eating, sleeping, bathing, etc. feels better when earned. I had never tasted pizza that good even though it was made on pita bread on a small frying pan with a backpacking stove and contained no marinara sauce. When you’re living in the wilderness it feels like everything you do is earned. It’s just more satisfying and sensory to enjoy a meal at the end of a day when you have hiked 10 miles carrying everything you need to survive on your back.
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Posted by Katelyn BeVard on April 15, 2020 |
When I moved to Utah 11 years ago as a 23-year-old, I didn’t imagine I would still be here and more surprising to me, that I would end up as the single mom of a four-year-old. I often tell our staff that I wish I could give them the experience of raising a child because it would make them better at their jobs. This reminds me of the comment my boss made when I first told him I was pregnant, “This is going to be so good for you.” I have also experienced parents tell me how lucky I am to work for Evoke because I have all of the tools I need; tools they wish they had before raising their kids. And what I’ve come to realize is that we are all right. My experience in wilderness has informed how I parent and my experience as a Mom has informed how I lead our team at Evoke. Each makes me better at the other.
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Posted by Katelyn BeVard, Program Director at Entrada on October 16, 2017 |
It's a Wednesday afternoon and I'm already late to our weekly yoga class. Much like other people, I have tried to fit too many things into a short amount of time. After hosting a staff breakfast at my house I had decided to schedule a pest control appointment during a 10 minute window, I only sort of had, before I needed to head to yoga. You can imagine my added stress and frustration when the employee arrived late to my house. I hustled him as quickly as I could and rushed over to participate in yoga. We provide this class for our employees every Wednesday as an opportunity for them to engage in their own practice of health and wellness and bring that back into the field. After struggling to find where I needed to be, I wandered into class late and was warmly welcomed by our Health and Wellness Coordinator, Elise Mitchell, who has a phenomenal ability to incorporate inconveniences and distractions into her yoga and mindfulness classes.
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Posted by Katelyn Bevard, Field Director at Entrada on April 29, 2016 |
As the Field Director, I oversee the development and work of Field Instructors at Evoke at Entrada. Because I spent two years in the field as an instructor myself, I understand how difficult it can be to explain how much goes into the job and the level of dedication it takes. Field Instructors play one of the most important parts in the treatment of our clients and their work is difficult to describe and can go unrecognized outside of our company. Because of this, we jumped on the recent opportunity to nominate Cara Dunn to be recognized with the Excellence in Service award presented by National Therapeutic Schools and Programs at their Southwest Regional Conference held in Saint George, Utah. It came as no surprise that she was selected as the winner.
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Posted by Katelyn Bevard on November 20, 2014 |
When you’re tasked with hosting an event and spend hours preparing for it and making sure it goes off without a hitch it’s easy to forget why you were doing it in the first place. I can often be guilty of focusing too much on the details and erring on the side of perfection. During our event I sat around a warm fire surrounded by professionals of the industry in the middle of the Nevada desert. In this moment our Health and Wellness Coordinator invited the group to practice mindfulness as we enjoyed a well-prepared meal of beans and rice. It was the first time in over a month where I actively took time to slow down and enjoy the present moment. I was reminded WHY I was there and how powerful the wilderness can be. I was overwhelmed with the amount of contentment and gratitude surrounding me.
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