North Gyeongsang Province plans to focus its efforts on supporting the mental health recovery of residents and counseling response personnel in cities and counties (Andong, Uiseong, Yeongyang, Cheongsong, Yeongdeok) affected by the large-scale wildfire that occurred in March.
Since March 22, North Gyeongsang Province has been leading psychological counseling activities for 9,152 residents who were directly or indirectly affected by the disaster, centering on major evacuation shelters. This has been done in cooperation with related organizations such as mental health welfare centers and trauma centers, with the Disaster Psychological Recovery Support Team at the core.
As temporary housing has secured living spaces and local recovery activities have become more active, mental health professionals are continuing to provide regular counseling for affected residents in each village, responding to additional counseling requests as they come in. These efforts are aimed at helping residents stabilize emotionally and recover their mental health.
In particular, based on the results of previous psychological counseling, the province plans to provide intensive, customized individual counseling by linking disaster psychological experts one-on-one with 240 individuals who have been referred to specialized institutions, as well as with high-risk groups identified among bereaved families and in severely affected villages.
In addition, group psychological counseling and recovery programs will be conducted for residents of villages with similar circumstances who have applied through their respective cities and counties. These programs are designed to help residents collectively address the emotional and social difficulties experienced after the disaster, fostering a sense of community and supporting a swift return to normal life.
Furthermore, various activities will be carried out to strengthen the capabilities of mental health professionals engaged in psychological counseling. Opportunities for training will be provided to cultivate more mental health professionals, and two burnout prevention camps will be held at the National Forest Healing Center in Yeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, to help relieve fatigue and stress among response personnel who participated in disaster psychological support.
Mental health professionals are defined as those qualified as mental health nurses, mental health social workers, mental health clinical psychologists, or mental health occupational therapists, in accordance with Articles 17 and 18 of the Mental Health Welfare Act.
Yoo Jungkeun, Director of Welfare and Health for North Gyeongsang Province, stated, "The psychological shock, anxiety, depression, and insomnia experienced by residents in the affected areas due to this wildfire could develop into long-term trauma. Therefore, we will continue to monitor the situation in cooperation with local governments and provide additional specialized counseling as needed. We are committed to doing our utmost to support disaster victims who have lost everything and are struggling with psychological wounds, by implementing various programs tailored to each region’s circumstances to help them regain healthy daily lives."
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