Alida van Dijk was recently the subject of an article on the Christian Reform Church’s website. It describes her work in the Community Counselling Centre in London, Ont., as well as her doctoral research. Here are some excepts from the article.
“Recently granted the Award of Excellence in Spiritual Care and Psycho-Spiritual Therapy and Education from the Canadian Association for Spiritual Care, van Dijk is a trained therapist who has been involved in the CRCNA for many years.
A graduate of Calvin Theological Seminary, she was ordained in 2017 as a commissioned pastor at Good News CRC, and in that role she serves as a Community Chaplain for her work at the Community Counselling Centre of London.
In addition, she was ordained as a ministry associate in 2006 to serve as ministry director at Covenant CRC in St. Catharines, Ont. She also worked for nearly two years as an administrative assistant to the director of Canadian Ministries in the CRCNA’s Burlington office.
All of these roles play into her work as a counselor, she says. But there is something else that helps to keep her on track with addressing the pain and suffering that some clients bring with them into her office. And that is how trauma affects the heart, soul, and body of people who have experienced difficult and trying circumstances, whether through military service, domestic abuse, or any other harsh situation in their lives.
“I look at this suffering as being the potential for post-traumatic growth,” she said. “Many experiences can be traumatic for you. You can suffer tremendously, but that pain doesn’t have to be a death sentence. There can be a resurrection.”
She completed a Ph.D. program on the subject, titling her dissertation Not Sinking with the Titanic: Personal Agency as a Key Factor in Transforming Trauma into Post-traumatic Growth. She earned the degree in human relationships in the field of spiritual care and psychotherapy from Waterloo Lutheran Seminary, now known as Martin Luther University College.”
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