Gyeonggi Province strengthens practical skills of social welfare workers...prepares healing programs including psychological counseling

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Park No-hoon] Gyeonggi Province is pursuing capacity-building projects by arranging educational programs to improve practical skills of social welfare workers in the province and creating venues for mutual communication.

The 'Social Welfare Workers Capacity Enhancement Project' being promoted by Gyeonggi Province and the Gyeonggi Social Workers Association is a project implemented since 2020 to improve the quality of social welfare services, with psychological counseling and healing programs for social welfare workers as its main components.

This year, the province is implementing the workers' capacity-building healing camp (overnight, two days) 'Rest and Fulfillment' training program, which could not be conducted due to COVID-19, supporting 390 participants (340 participation-type, 50 application-type).

The participation-type training program will be held from September to October at Healience Sunmaeul in Gangwon Province (30 people, 8 sessions), Chuncheon (20 people, 2 sessions), Daebudo (20 people, 2 sessions), and Jeju (20 people, 1 session).

The application-type training program supports 50 participants with training activity fees (150,000 won per person) through team-based (4-8 people per team) training recruitment with set themes such as field studies and site visits.

Additionally, the province plans to provide psychological counseling through professional counseling institutions for workers who have experienced physical or emotional violence in social welfare field settings.

Social welfare facility workers wishing to participate can apply to the Gyeonggi Social Workers Association by the 10th.

Previously, the province conducted non-face-to-face online education from 2020 to 2021 to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Approximately 1,696 social welfare workers in the province participated in celebrity lectures for capacity enhancement, psychological counseling support for workers who experienced risks in social welfare field settings, and online healing classes including home training and craft-making.

Yoon Young-mi, head of Gyeonggi Province's Welfare Policy Division, said, "By providing psychological support counseling and healing opportunities to workers who experience significant emotional exhaustion in social welfare practice fields, we hope to improve the quality of welfare services provided to residents."

For more information, visit the Gyeonggi Social Workers Association website (ggsw.kr) notice section or contact the Planning and Policy Team at the Gyeonggi Social Workers Association (031-252-7554).