On April 5, 1994, Bev's cousin, Kurt Cobain, front man for the rock band, Nirvana, shot himself. His suicide,the third in Bev's family, suddenly made the education of others on the topics of youth depression and suicide prevention a very personal objective for Bev, and she has gone on to become an acclaimed national speaker and trainer on those issues.

In 1998, Bev wrote the award-winning, When Nothing Matters Anymore: A Survival Guide for Depressed Teens, now in it's 5th printing, and considered by the National Institute of Mental Health to be a "major step forward" in depression education.

In 1999, Bev received the first Green Ribbon Award from the National Mental Health Association for "Excellence in Childhood Depression Education". Bev is a member of the American Association of Suicidology, and of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

• Registered Nurse for 27 years with National Accreditation as a Mental Health Nurse
• Practiced for 10 years on a hospital-based psychiatric unit, treating and counseling patients of all ages suffering from depression, suicidality, and other mental illnesses.