Gyeonggi Province will support up to 1 million KRW per person for psychological counseling costs for adolescents in the province who are struggling with game overuse.
The Gyeonggi Game Culture Center, operated by Gyeonggi Province, announced on the 18th that it signed a business agreement on the 17th with 15 specialized psychological counseling institutions in the province to operate the ‘2024 Game Overuse Counseling and Healing Program.’
This project provides psychological counseling at nearby counseling partner institutions for adolescents and their guardians in the province who are experiencing game overuse issues. It supports up to 1 million KRW per person for psychological counseling costs, including comprehensive psychological testing specialized in the gaming field.
Fifteen institutions will provide psychological counseling, including 11 institutions reselected from last year and four new partner institutions this year: Kind Jeongho Teacher Psychological Counseling Research Institute (Choi Jeongho), Our Mind Counseling Research Institute (Nam Heekyung), YouHappy Psychological Counseling Center Hanam Branch (Kim Jaehee), and Psychological Counseling Center Bijeum (Kim Minnyeo).
In particular, guardians of the counseling target adolescents can also receive counseling together, enabling fundamental solutions considering the home environment and the child’s temperament. The counseling results are expected to be maximized by linking to opportunities for career exploration in related fields.
Dedicated counselors at the counseling partner institutions will participate in the ‘Game Behavior Counselor Training Course’ during the project period to enhance their understanding of the gaming field. This training is designed to help counselors not treat game-related problems simply as diseases but to guide counselees to use games more valuably than before.
Those who wish to receive counseling can apply online by visiting the Gyeonggi Game Culture Center website (www.gcon.or.kr/gcc).
Kim Taegun, Director of the Digital Innovation Division of Gyeonggi Province, said, "68% of South Korea’s total content exports come from games, and 48% of that is accounted for by Gyeonggi Province. As the industrial value of games has increased, the need to foster a healthy gaming culture has also grown. Therefore, Gyeonggi Province will continue to provide support to establish a sound gaming culture foundation, such as through game overuse counseling."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
