Meg Neufeld, MA

Some stories don't start the way you'd expect.

In November 2011, Meg and her husband Andrew were in a collision that changed the course of their lives overnight. For Meg, it meant the end of her ability to work in the way she always had. The years that followed were hard — the kind of hard that's difficult to put into words. But by 2015, something was shifting. They were finding their footing again and, as they did, began to notice gaps in our community’s mental health services. Together, Meg and Andrew decided to open Alongside You, an integrated health clinic right here in South Delta.

Even through those difficult years, one thread remained constant for Meg: creativity. Her twin sister has rare medical conditions, and art had always been something they could do together — a shared language when other things felt hard. That love of art led Meg to study fine arts, museum studies, and cultural anthropology at UBC, and eventually to teaching and researching the role that creativity has in shaping culture, fostering connection, and supporting the health and well-being of communities.

In pursuing training in pain education for healthcare providers, mindfulness-based art therapy, and art and dialectical behavioural therapy, the research confirmed what Meg had always felt: that art, movement, and expression have a profound impact on mental, physical, and emotional recovery.

She is the creator of Pain in the Arts, a program that combines pain education, mindfulness, and creative practice to support chronic pain self-management.

Read more about Pain in the Arts