On Oct. 4 at the Keffer Chapel, the Waterloo Lutheran Seminary hosted the grand opening for the Delton Glebe Centre. Located at 177 Albert St., the centre is meant to offer a holistic and creative approach to healing and psychotherapy to both the Kitchener-Waterloo community and to faculty and students of Wilfrid Laurier University.
The opening ceremony began at 11:00 a.m. in the WLS with speeches from many of those involved in the process of bringing the idea of The Delton Glebe Centre to reality. The guest of honour was
Verna Glebe, the wife of the late honouree, who was presented with the privilege of cutting the ribbon for the new centre.
The project from conception to opening took about a year, which is relatively short for an undertaking as large as the Glebe Centre. The healing centre is dedicated to Delton Glebe, former principal dean of WLS, for his service in the community and his vision. According to current WLS principal dean, David Pfrimmer, Delton sought to humanize the pastoral office. He was one of the founders of pastoral counselling in Canada.
“We shouldn’t be so heavenly wholesome that we’re no earthly good,” Glebe was known to have said.
The new centre will offer many different types of short-term and long-term therapy and counselling services such as music therapy, art therapy and play therapy.
“The voice of a child is play,” explained Kristine Lund, assistant principal and director of the Spiritual Care and Psychotherapy Programs. “Play therapy is a way of using objects to express or talk about experiences you’ve had when verbal communication doesn’t suffice or isn’t appropriate.”
The centre also has support groups for immigrants new to the area.
‘Bridging the East and the West’ is a series of counselling sessions geared towards Chinese immigrants that attempts to bridge the gap between Chinese and Canadian culture. It also offers a group support and information system for issues such as parenting, work environment and what to do when a loved one is ill.
“We’re open to people of all faiths; we’re also open to people of no faith,” said Lund.
The centre is dedicated to holistic healing with special attention being paid to diversity and multi-faith issues among individuals, couples and families in the community. It has entered into a partnership with Muslim Social Services of Kitchener-Waterloo to better cater to the needs of Muslim students and the Muslim community as a whole.
As an educator, Glebe believed in the process of ‘learning by doing.’ The Delton Glebe Centre strives to continue the academic setting with a focus on research in play therapy.
With regard to his belief, another service that the centre offers is practicum placement for students in counselling programs at WLS.
“I hope the Glebe Centre can be a resource for healing and change for people with whatever they come with. And as part of that healing and change process, the Glebe Centre can support people to make meaning in their lives,” Lund said.
