In this study, a psycho therapeutic intervention program was given to a sheltered child who had
witnessed domestic violence. The intervention program was carried out in the form of art therapy. The purpose of this study was to examine if the art therapy intervention could improve behavior problems of the child and help her psychosocial adjustments to the surroundings. A fifth grade elementary school girl who had been sheltered with her mother due to her father’s violence was treated with the therapy intervention as she showed serious problems in her behavior and inter-personal relationship. The treatment which lasted June, 2009 through December, 2009, consisted of twenty-one sessions, each session about fifty or sixty minutes, once or twice a week. Scales including K-YSR, K-HTP, and KFD were used to detect a
change in the child’s behavior before and after the treatment. The findings are as follows. First, the child’s behavior problems decreased with the therapy treatment. K-YSR readings on the child’s level of depression, anxiety, social immaturity, attentiveness, and aggressiveness dropped below a clinical standard of 70T, and a decrease in inhibition was also found. K-HTP readings indicated that the intervention relieved her sense of incompetence, isolation, withdrawal, and adherence, setting off her active and competent interactions with the surroundings. KFD readings showed a recovery of within-family interactions and individual roles, and an emergence of positive perception of the family. Second, changes detected in the steps of art therapy showed a decrease in the child’s behavior problems. The findings of this study render support tothe positive influence of art therapy in fostering psychosocial adjustments of sheltered children from domestic violence.
Key Words : Shelter for Domestic Violence, Child, Behavior Problems, Art Therapy