Supportive music and imagery with sandplay for child witnesses of domestic violence: A pilot study report

The purpose of this pilot study was to examine the possibility of supportive music and imagery (MI) in addition to sandplay as a therapeutic treatment to improve emotional and behavioral adaptability for child witnesses of domestic violence. Participants were three elementary school students (two boys, one girl) who were living or had lived at a domestic violence shelter in Republic of Korea. This single subject design intervention study measured the children's self-expression levels during six individual sessions through a partial-interval recording, conducting pre-post measurements of emotions and behaviors using the Korean Child Behavior Checklist (K-CBCL). The combination of MI and sandplay was shown to have a positive effect on the improvement of children's self-expression and emotions. Implications for researchers and clinicians are discussed.