□ Professor Cho Yongrae of Hallym University Department of Psychology won the '2022 Fire Officer Visiting Counseling Office Operation (Gangwon Region)' project hosted by the Fire Service and the Gangwon-do Fire Department, and served as the head of the Fire Psychology Support Team for the 5th year in a row. 

□ Professor Cho, who will receive 240 million won in project expenses from April to mid-December this year through this project, took on the role of the head of the Provincial Fire Psychological Support Team last year and carried out the project. Results include providing group counseling and developing a continuous counseling manual for firefighters. 

□ In addition to Professor Cho (Head of the Provincial Fire Psychological Support Team), the team is also comprised of a deputy chief and one chief counselor. In total six professional counselors are in charge of each area.

□ The project has been expanded nationwide since 2018 for the purpose of strengthening resilience and relieving trauma-related stress for firefighters suffering from trauma as a result of witnessing various incidents and accidents, and continuously operating a case management system for high-risk groups with ongoing mental health support. 

□ Professional counselors belonging to the Provincial Fire Psychological Support Team visit each fire station in the province to provide various psychological support such as mental health education for firefighters, 1:1 customized individual and group counseling, in-depth psychological counseling for high-risk groups, and continuous case management. 

□ Professor Cho, a trauma related psychological treatment expert, has been the head of the provincial disaster psychological support center for a long time and has led psychological support activities for residents affected by various disasters in the province. As a result, it has contributed to improving the mental health of firefighters in the province and enhancing trust in the nation and firefighting organizations. 

□ Professor Cho Yongrae stated “By taking responsibility for the operation of this project continuously in 2022, we expect to be able to stably provide evidence-based psychological health services to meet the on-site needs of firefighters in the province based on the experience of operating the business for the past four years.” 

□ Meanwhile, through this project operation, Hallym University is accelerating the establishment of a 'Open University: A University Open to the Local Community', one of the university's VISION 2030+ action plans.

The original Korean article can be viewed here.