"If You're Struggling, Say So"... 'Professional Psychological Counseling Service' for Nowon-gu Employees

One-on-One Counseling for 2,421 District Office Employees Including Public Officials and Fixed-Term Workers Starting from the 22nd at 180 Seoul City Counseling Centers Including 7 Local Centers

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Nowon-gu (District Mayor Oh Seung-rok) is actively stepping forward to protect the mental health of its employees to prevent possible suicides and to foster psychological stability in the workplace.

Recently, as some public officials have made extreme choices one after another, employees affiliated with the district office who face civil petitioners on the front lines are no exception.

Frontline public officials unanimously say that the most difficult moments are when they clash with petitioners who accuse them of unfriendliness if their demands are not met.

In addition, community service centers have a work environment centered on civil petitions, handle various events and miscellaneous tasks beyond their primary duties, and those involved in enforcement and fine imposition are frequently troubled by protest calls.

Especially due to the COVID-19 social situation, employees’ work stress is gradually increasing with duties such as quarantine, enforcement, and self-isolation monitoring.

Nevertheless, the reality is that most public officials find it difficult to openly share their struggles due to fear of how others view public officials.

The district office strongly agreed on the need for psychological and healing programs for employees, as requested during a meeting with civil service employees, and from this year will provide psychological counseling support to all 2,421 district office employees, including public officials and fixed-term workers.

A specialized institution with counseling centers nationwide at over 530 locations was selected, and the program will be fully operational from the 22nd.

The psychological counseling support targets employees who ▲ are experiencing difficulties due to trauma from accumulated negative experiences during work or work-related stress, ▲ want to know the work that suits them through personality tests, or ▲ are having difficulties in interpersonal relationships.

Counseling applications can be made through a dedicated counseling website, phone, or the mobile app ‘Counseling4U’, and after application, counseling is conducted either face-to-face one-on-one or via phone.

Basic counseling sessions of about three times will be provided to applicants, and if necessary after counseling, they will be designated as crisis management cases to extend counseling or be linked to specialized hospitals.

Meanwhile, since 2018, the district has been actively promoting a culture of respect for life and suicide prevention projects. As a result, the number of suicides decreased from 138 in 2018 to 119 in 2019, and this year it is estimated to remain below 110.

This year, the district plans to promote the importance of life and suicide crisis coping methods by signing an MOU for housing management in the Nowon area and conducting Life Love Schools for elementary, middle, and high school students in the region.

District Mayor Oh Seung-rok said, “The mental stability of employees is essential for improving the quality of public services,” and added, “We will create a healthy Nowon through fostering a healthy workplace culture and various suicide prevention projects.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.