Developing Innovative PTSD Treatment for Children

The project operates in collaboration with the Nonprofit Organisation “Charitable Foundation “Voices of Children” (Ukraine) and the Post Traumatic Training Institute (USA).

Viktoriia Gorbunova is the project manager, principal investigator, and lead trainer for the RTM Protocol™. Svitlana Roiz is the author of the adaptation idea and co-trainer. Tetiana Shiriaeva is the research assistant and RTM Protocol™ coach. Sergiy Tsyapets is a member of the adaptation team and RTM Protocol™ coach.

The GlobalinMaind, Voices of Children and PTTI have agreed to join forces on the development, research, and training of the RTM-C Protocol (Child Version of the RTM Protocol™) in three consecutive stages:
1. RTM-C Protocol development and pilot study (May-October, 2025).
2. RTM-C Protocol training delivery to Voices of Children’s professionals and implementation study (November 2025 - June 2026).
3. RTM-C Protocol national roll-out for school psychologists in Ukraine (July 2026 - July 2028).

As a result of the first stage of the collaboration, it is expected to have: 1) Finalised version of the RTM-C Protocol. The Protocol will be rewritten in simple, child-friendly language that kids aged 6 to 12 can understand; 2) Animated instructions to guide children through the Protocol. Animated instructions will be created to help children understand how to follow the Protocol more effectively. These animations will guide children through the steps in an engaging and accessible manner; 3) Сardboard model of the cinema theatre and cinema screen. A cardboard layout of a movie theatre will be created to assist children who struggle to visualise the process. This will be a hands-on, printable model that can be assembled and utilised during sessions; 4) Research data and reports. A group of 20 to 24 participants will be formed from trained and certified RTM professionals. They will take part in a one-day training on the RTM-C Protocol Piloting. After completing the training, each specialist will work with two child clients and share the results of their sessions with the Ukrainian RTM research team. Focus groups will be held to gather feedback from specialists about their experience using the RTM-C Protocol. This input will improve the Protocol wording, supplementary tools, and overall process of the Protocol's application. Before data collection starts, a research protocol and data management plan will be developed and submitted to the relevant review panel for ethical approval.