By John Dodge Meyer and Meryl Truett
With International Women’s Day being March 8th, it’s time to meet the author of that quote, Kate Van Doren; a literal force of nature when it comes to women’s issues and advocacy. As an artist/therapist and founder of the internationally recognized Healing Words Project, she has managed to marry the idea of nature’s self-healing ability with a program offering women a deep and abiding sense of renewal. No small task for the quiet and shy little girl who was raised in Oregon. But her parents gave her the chance to connect with the natural world of the Cascade Mountains and feel the regenerative power of nature; a connection that only grew stronger as she came of age in the Pacific Northwest.
Kate’s credentials for her successes in Art Therapy and The Healing Words Project are numerous and impressive. She earned honors degrees in Fine Art and Psychology from the University of Oregon in 2002 and then went on to earn a double master’s degree in Counseling and Art Therapy from Maryhurst University in 2006. From then until 2020, Kate pursued a career in Art Therapy. Even when she and her family moved to San Miguel in 2015, she set up an office practice and saw six to eight patients a day. So basically she has dedicated her life to helping other people heal through art. About the same time that the Covid pandemic swept across the North American continent, Kate decided that she needed to take her practice online, work on her own physical healing from an auto-immune problem, and also rekindle an interest in painting. That quiet and shy child back in Oregon always did love to sketch and draw, and as a college student she had a flair for art, and certainly she ended up helping other people heal through art; so, five years ago Kate decided to scratch that itch again. In true Kate Van Doren form; “believing you can heal yourself, means you can certainly teach yourself to paint!” Did we say “force of nature?”
Turns out Kate needed to bring all that optimism to bear. When unsuccessfully first trying to mix colors, she soon found out she had cataracts and had to have her eyes corrected to even begin to go further. With that major problem solved, she set out to create art that raised healing awareness. Coincidentally, at the same time the national strike in Mexico called “Un Dia Sin Mujeres” or “A Day Without Women” was scheduled to take place in early 2020. Kate decided to start taking photos of women; showing solidarity with their cause. This quickly became an early intervention project and The Healing Words Project was born. When she started taking photos, the women began telling their stories about what it meant to feel and be empowered once more. This began many important conversations about healing and human rights.
To date, Kate has worked with hundreds of women; photographing them; their healing mantras boldly displayed on their bodies, and sharing these images with their families and in some cases publically to help other women partake in the stories of renewal. She has been working one on one with some of the women and has produced paintings that are accompanied by the participants own written personal story to share with, and empower, other women. To feel the full power of these paintings and the stories that accompany them we would strongly encourage you to view them in person. Her work can currently be seen at Van Doren Studio in Fábrica La Aurora in San Miguel, and in March of 2026 she will be mounting a major exhibition of paintings, photographs and videos at Museo de Arte de Querétaro. Proceeds from all sales are donated back to the subjects, their families and to organizations that provide services for women. This will be another milestone in a career that has seen Kate’s work in Fine Art Connoisseur, American Art Collector, PoetsArtists, Mod Portrait and more. Her work was also selected for inclusion in the Peregrine Collection, a time capsule of digitized works of art and literature sent to the moon!
Just as in the natural world, the mind/body is a self-regulating organism. With the strength based narrative dialogue at the heart of The Healing Words Project, participants and ultimately viewers are offered a sense of renewed strength and spirit. As Kate says, “hope and gratitude are what keep you going.”
Meryl Truett is an artist and workshop instructor in San Miguel de Allende. IG @madinsmawww.meryltruett.com John Dodge Meyer is and artistand writer living in San Miguel working on his memoir.
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