Full operations begin July 1 following the June 12 opening ceremony — the center serves as residents' first point of contact for counseling and a community hub linking local mental health resources. Services span screening, individual and group counseling, and referrals to specialized institutions.
Seoul's Nowon-gu will begin full operations of its new mental health support center, Maeum Itda, in July, offering residents early detection of psychological crises and referrals to appropriate support services. District Mayor Oh Seung-rok heads the district.
The center's name reflects its founding purpose: to connect people with one another and with the broader community — "itda" meaning "to connect" in Korean.
The center is located at 1036 Dongil-ro in Nowon-gu, near the Dokkaebi Market in Gongneung-dong. It is staffed by four full-time employees, including a director and professional counselors, and is equipped with three counseling rooms and one program room.
Services include initial consultations and intake, psychological screening and assessment, individual, family and group counseling, mental health education and daily-life recovery programs, and referrals to local counseling, welfare and public health agencies. Residents can receive basic psychological support at the center and be connected to specialized services without visiting multiple institutions separately.
The center was established in response to a recognized need for a public counseling system capable of identifying psychological crises early and preventing them from worsening. Issues such as suicide risk, depression, anxiety and social isolation have increasingly emerged as social challenges, raising public expectations for local governments to play a more active role. Growing demand for counseling has also left many residents unable to receive timely help or struggling to find the right services.
Nowon-gu has steadily expanded its counseling infrastructure, adding a mental health welfare center, a youth counseling and welfare center, a youth sexual counseling center and a senior counseling center. Most recently, it opened the first youth psychological counseling center among Seoul's autonomous districts.
From the outset, the center will both provide direct counseling services and serve as a hub connecting local counseling, welfare and health agencies. Its scope is broad — covering life-stage-tailored counseling, support for out-of-school youth and sensitive sexual counseling. Residents can access all services in one place.
On June 12, Nowon-gu held an opening ceremony for the center, formally launching what it described as a community-wide mental health cooperation framework bringing together local partner agencies and psychological support resources.
The district plans to gradually expand the center's network of local partners, strengthening ties with life-stage-specific counseling and support agencies for youth, young adults and seniors, as well as specialized institutions covering mental health, addiction and dementia. To that end, the district will operate consultative bodies with partner agencies and develop joint programs as part of building what it calls a "Nowon-style public psychological support model."
"We envisioned a more advanced model — one that goes beyond the mental health infrastructure already in place and deepens the services residents actually need," district Mayor Oh said. "I hope residents facing psychological difficulties can find closer, more meaningful help through this center."
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