Abstract
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a group art therapy program on the psychological well-being of children who have experienced domestic violence. The therapy program was designed to enhance self-esteem and reduce anxiety for these children. The participants of this study included seven elementary school students and five junior high school students. The therapy program consisted of thirteen sessions that were held between September 25, 2002 and December 17, 2002. Each session lasted approximately 100 minutes. The effectiveness of this program was evaluated by a pretest and a post-test. The instruments used in the tests were the Anxiety Scale and Self-Esteem Scale. In addition, HND (Here and Now Drawing) was adopted for qualitative evaluation. The data were analyzed by paired t-tests. The results show the following: First, the group art therapy program was effective in enhancing the children's self-esteem and in reducing their anxiety. Second, there was a qualitative change in children's HND (Here and Now Drawing) after the therapy program, which proves that the group art therapy was effective.
