Development of an AI-Based Virtual Trauma Survivor to Enhance Psychological First Aid Training

Psychological First Aid (PFA) is a core early intervention after trauma, but traditional training with actors is costly and challenging to scale. This chapter presents the design and development of an LLM-based “Virtual Trauma Survivor” to enable realistic, accessible, and repeatable PFA training. Drawing on work presented at the NATO Advanced Research Workshop (Tbilisi, 2024), we describe the project’s evolution from early ChatGPT-3.5 role-plays to a functional GPT-4o-driven simulator with four modules: configuration, simulation, feedback, and learning curve tracking. Development challenges—including failed external collaborations, clinician–developer communication gaps, and contractual pitfalls—led to an independent, interdisciplinary build process that leveraged natural-language programming tools. The final prototype integrates domain-specific content, iterative user testing, and ethical oversight to enhance scenario realism while remaining affordable and scalable. Lessons learned stress the primacy of clinical expertise in AI-driven educational design, the need for explicit deliverables in collaborations, and the importance of rigorous validation to ensure educational efficacy. This work offers a transferable methodology for developing safe, effective, and scalable generative-AI training tools in mental health and beyond.