Recently the great concern in Korean society about serious effect of abuse on children's mental and physical aspects, and the intergenerational transition of abusive behaviors has resulted in many studies on child abuse.c Most results of the studies d...
Recently the great concern in Korean society about serious effect of abuse on children's mental and physical aspects, and the intergenerational transition of abusive behaviors has resulted in many studies on child abuse.c Most results of the studies demonstrate that proper treatment is required in child abuse cases because abused children's physical, emotional and behavioral damages extend over their whole life, and child abuse problem would come to social problem.
Therefore, psychotherapy is demanded in child abuse cases to minimize victims' damages and to rehabilitate their social functioning. In this study, sequelae of child physical abuse and play therapy for victims are reviewed, and a play therapy case about a girl abused physically from her father is stated.
This girl was reported and referred as a child abuse case from local welfare center. At that time she had emotional, behavioral problems caused by her father's abusive behaviors. To intervene in these problems, 17 play therapy sessions for her, and several home visits and individual counseling sessions for her father were carried out. In consequence, hostility toward a male figure has been disappeared and she could meet her father more comfortably. Moreover, her self-consciousness lowered by past negative experiences has been improved, poor social relationship patterns have changed, and need for growth as a good person has arisen. However, some tasks such as verbal aggression toward peer, impulsiveness, and refusal to live with alcoholic father are still awaiting solution to be solved.