Support for Students Exposed to Trauma

"Support for Students Exposed to Trauma" was part of the larger project "Empowering professionals to deliver effective treatment for consequences of psychological trauma for children who suffered from war in Eastern Ukraine" implemented by the Institute of Mental Health of Ukrainian Catholic University and funded by the Children of Chornobyl Canadian Fund.

The programme began with the development of a tailored Support for Students Exposed to Trauma (SSET) manual, designed to equip local professionals with the necessary tools to support children affected by trauma. This manual served as a foundational resource to guide their interventions within school settings.

Subsequently, a comprehensive training programme was delivered in Lviv to a group of 20 school professionals. This consisted of a three-day training on Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (TF-CBT), followed sequentially by a two-day training on the SSET approach. The objective of this training sequence was to build local capacity in delivering evidence-based trauma interventions for children and adolescents.

The next module of the programme focused on research and assessment activities. A research design was developed to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention. As part of this effort, a decentered translation and cultural adaptation of key assessment instruments was carried out. The psychometric properties of the translated instruments were evaluated to ensure validity and reliability. Local professionals were actively engaged in data collection during and after the training sessions. The effectiveness of the intervention was assessed by examining the number of children reached, improvements in mental health outcomes, and other relevant indicators.

The following module focused on the implementation of the SSET programme within schools. Professionals from Lviv conducted informational presentations on trauma and its impact, targeting teachers, parents, and students. At the same time, they led trauma-informed group sessions for children in five schools. These group sessions were conducted simultaneously across the schools. Practitioners received supervision throughout the process, which covered psychoeducation for school staff and parents, PTSD symptom screening, and guidance for facilitating the children’s support groups.