Upcoming Workshops and Groups

You belong here, now: A wholehearted writing group

You Belong Here is a writing group designed to help you increase psychological flexibility and move toward:

•Connecting with present moment experience and the wisdom of the body through body-centered mindfulness practices

•Opening up to the challenges, joys, and pain of day-to-day life, allowing yourself to show up exactly as you are

•Contacting something larger than yourself and letting go of self criticism and constricting stories of you we are, were, or should be

•Fostering a sense of belonging from the inside out

•Connecting with your values, writing about what is mattering to you right now and moving toward additional bite-sized, values-based commitments that flow naturally from your writing

We will begin each session with a brief body centered mindfulness/Qigong practice and then we will use poetry and expressive writing as an evocative starting place.  During a set of timed writing practices we will side-step our critic, putting pen to paper and not stopping.  After we write together, we will read our work aloud to one another.  We will not comment or critique, but rather hold space for each other to show up as we are.

No writing or meditation experience required. Bring an open heart, a desire to connect with others and a readiness to tap into your own medicine. 

Classes will via Zoom:

You Belong Here, (8 Wednesdays, March 20th-May 8th, 10-11:30am MST)

Class will be limited in size to create an intimate experience.

Investment: $600

*Scholarships available if finances are an issue.

Please contact me at drmegmckelvie@gmail.com to reserve your spot. If this timing doesn’t work for you, please reach out and I will try to accommodate your schedule in upcoming groups.

You Belong Here is not therapy, nor is it a substitute for therapy.

What past participants of You Belong have said:

“This class is elegant and magical in its simplicity.  In a time when people are feeling “zoomed out” and alone,  Meg’s class was an anchor of authenticity and connection in my week.  It felt like therapy in the sense that by the end of each class I felt more grounded and connected to my living, breathing, authentic self.  There is something about sharing writing aloud with a group of non-judgmental  listeners that creates space for self-empathy to blossom.” -DD

"The regular practice of writing with Meg's guidance led me to places of calm, reflection, and insight. This writing practice and time together felt like refuge and calm in the storm. I am grateful for this practice and continue it regularly." -KMB

“My participation in Meg's writing group has transformed me as a writer, clinician, and human. I have gotten in touch with parts of myself that I had unknowingly cleaved off and a more authentically self-compassionate version of me has emerged through the process of writing and sharing. The gentle, open, and loving environment, with minimal explicit input from participants, has allowed me to develop deep connections with strangers and with myself.” -VH

ACBS WORLD CONFERENCE 2022 (6/19/22)

Transcending Self (-as-Content): True Belonging from the Inside Out

Workshop 10:45 PST

Who among us does not yearn to belong? The longing to be loved and included is part of our evolutionary history; to belong meant our individual and collective survival. Yet, “while this yearning is healthy, many of the ways our minds try to satisfy it cause us psychic pain” (Hayes, A Liberated Mind, 2019).

In our connection-starved and increasingly isolated culture, we can become entangled with the conceptualized self, attempting to gain group membership and social connection by presenting ourselves as special, smart, or in need of great care. We can misdirect our yearning to belong towards dead-end strategies like perfectionism, people pleasing, and achievement, becoming trapped in an endless self-improvement loop. We settle for superficial self-esteem and fleeting self- acceptance, but ultimately feel disconnected from ourselves and others. We’ll use experiential exercises and case examples to demonstrate the power of belonging work. We’ll dive into expressive writing and small groups to practice being more fully ourselves in the moment, dropping below self-story to reconnect with true belonging and an interconnected sense of we.

Educational Objectives:
1. Discuss the human experience of yearning for belonging.
2. Describe ways the desire for belonging can be mismanaged.
3. Implement experiential exercises to promote self-as-context processes and increase lasting self-acceptance.

ACBS World conference 2021 (6/27/21)

Belonging As Our Birthright: Cultivating Belonging from the Inside Out

Workshop - Sunday, 27 June (7:45am EST)

Meg McKelvie, Ph.D., Private Practice, Debbie Sorensen, Ph.D., Private Practice

Who among us does not yearn to belong? The longing to be loved, seen, valued and included is not just a current day experience, but part of our evolutionary history and survival as a species. To be part of a group, to belong, meant our individual and collective survival (Hayes, 2019).

In our connection-starved and increasingly isolated culture, we can become entangled with the conceptualized self, attempting to gain group membership and social connection by presenting ourselves as special, smart, or in need of great care. We can become unknowingly trapped inside our mismanaged yearning to belong, making it increasingly difficult to create healthy social connection (Hayes, In Press).

Drawing from A Liberated Mind, we will use experiential exercises, expressive writing, and small group work to drop below self-story and contact a sense of belonging from the inside out. We will practice body centered mindfulness, perspective taking, being more fully ourselves in the moment, and letting go of our self-stories to cultivate a healthy sense of belonging, transcendence, and an interconnected sense of we.

Educational Objectives:
1. Explain the yearning to belong in CBS terms, including the relationship between pain and values related to our yearning to belong.
2. Identify clinical signs of a mismanaged yearning to belong and apply the psychological flexibility model to guide responding to experiential avoidance, self-stories and self-limiting content about belonging.
3. Develop compassion-based writing and experiential practices to cultivate belonging that allow us to cut through unhelpful content.