Clinical Control Trial on the Healing Drawing Procedure (HDP) Trauma Treatment Intervention Provided by Non-Specialist Mental Health Providers to Vulnerable Children Living in Taraz, Republic of Kazakhstan

This clinical controlled trial had two objectives: 1) to evaluate the effectiveness, efficiency, and safety of the Healing Drawing Procedure (HDP) group trauma treatment intervention in reducing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms among vulnerable children living in Taraz, Kazakhstan and 2) to explore the effectiveness and safety of non-specialist mental health providers (MHPs) being trained in and delivering the HDP group trauma treatment intervention as part of the task-sharing focused Trauma Healing Training Program (THTP), which is being developed to safely bring effective mental health treatment interventions to high-need, low-resource contexts, specifically in low-and-middleincome countries (LMICs).A total of 22 children between the ages of 7-14 (M = 10.09 years old) met the inclusion criteria and participated in the study.To evaluate the effectiveness, efficiency, and safety of the HDP treatment intervention in reducing PTSD symptoms in vulnerable children, repeated-measures ANOVA was applied, comparing the Treatment Group (TG) and the Control Group (CG).Results showed that the HDP treatment intervention had a significant effect for time, with a medium effect size (F (2,40) = 17.72 p <.000, η² = 470), and a significant effect for group with a lower effect size (F (1, 20 = 76.66,p<.001, η² = .404).Intragroup comparisons of means showed significant differences for the Treatment Group (TG) between Time 1. Pre-test assessment and Time 2. Post-treatment assessment with a large effect, t (14) = 5.42, p=.00, d = .955.These data confirm the effectiveness, efficacy, and safety of the HDP group trauma treatment intervention in reducing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in children.Results also show the Trauma Healing Training Program's success in safely bringing an effective mental health treatment intervention provided by specially trained non-specialist mental health providers in a low-resource country.