POSTECH Microscope: The Counselling Center
POSTECH Microscope: The Counselling Center
  • Reporter Lee Ji-hwan
  • 승인 2021.11.13 23:31
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▲Senior Counselor Eunyeong Jang
▲Senior Counselor Eunyeong Jang

 

The POSTECH counseling center is a welcoming place composed of professors and counselors that are willing to listen and offer support to all Postechians seeking help. To introduce the counseling team to more Postechians, The Postech Times interviewed Senior Counselor Eunyeong Jang who has worked at the POSTECH counseling center for three years.

Could you introduce the main responsibilities of the counseling team?
Our two main areas of work are having personal counseling sessions with Postechians and conducting psychological surveys. Students and other Postechians seek the counseling team for different reasons varying from emotional distress to relationship problems. We plan individual sessions and professionally help them. Secondly, we conduct online psychological surveys to help Postechians learn more about themselves.
What is your role as a Ph.D. counselor for the POSTECH counseling team?
As a counselor, I am assigned to have counseling sessions for crisis management. As a Ph.D. counselor, I am responsible for the general management of the counseling team. Recently, with the help of other counseling team members, we have made significant changes to the website by adding MBTI surveys, online programs and classes like the medication class. We are constantly working to provide a better service to all Postechians.

When do you feel most rewarded at work?
When we first opened the MBTI survey, our team was worried that the participation level would be very low. We were surprised when more than 1,400 people, nearly half of the people at POSTECH, submitted their results. Feedback we received about the online medication class were also very positive. I think that we feel most rewarded at work when Postechians participate and comment that they are satisfied with our new projects. Those comments made me believe that the counseling team is going in the right direction.

What were some hardships you faced during your time at POSTECH?
I think that going through COVID-19 last year was a very rough time for students and us alike. We knew that the number of people suffering from depression had increased during the pandemic, but we could not offer counseling services due to lockdown. We needed time to prepare for online counseling sessions and waiting for the transition was not easy. There are also cases where people ask for help in areas we cannot help. Although we try our best, our power is limited, and we cannot always provide a complete solution. It is always hard to watch a counselee leave the room with their problem unsolved.

How does the POSTECH counseling team help foreign students in POSTECH?
We also have counseling sessions for foreign students. Although most of our counselees are Korean, we have counselors that can conduct counseling sessions to help foreign students too.
 
Any last words for Postechians?
I would like to mention that as POSTECH provides a competitive environment for all students, anyone can suffer from burnout symptoms or generally feel worried about their future. Although the counseling team cannot always solve the problem, we are here to listen and provide professional help for people that need some assistance. I hope Postechians do not find knocking on our door too difficult since we are always open to everyone.