This study is to investigate if and how a cognitive-behavioral group art therapy helps
married women reduce depression and what their self awareness about themselves is like.
What to investigate first in this study, thus, is to seek out the specific situations in
which such obscure feelings of lethargy, misery, sadness and fear occur; then to look into
their consequential behavior and thoughts that are often irrational; and finally to apply a
cognitive-behavioral group art therapy in order for them to regain more practicality and
more positive self observation.
Study subjects are 12 married women residing in the city of Ulsan, being chosen as
scoring 16-23 points after Beck Depression Inventory test. Out of this 12 married women
under average depression, divided are two groups of the experimental and the controlled,
each with 6 people. The study program, a group art therapy, is applied only to the experimental group.
For data analysis, t-test is applied in order to measure and compare between the controlled group and the experimental group the degree of difference in their depression, in self awareness about their depression being pre-tested and post-verified. Also analyzed are
the subjects' progressive process with each session of the group art therapy.
The results obtained from the study are as follows.
First, the cognitive-behavioral group art therapy is effective on the depression of married
women. That is, the subjects of the experimental group participated in the group art
therapy show their depression much reduced, compared to the controlled group untreated
with the group art therapy.
Second, the cognitive-behavioral group art therapy is effective on the self awareness of
married women. That is, the subjects of the experimental group participated in the group
art therapy show their self awareness or cognition about themselves much higher, compared
to the controlled group untreated with the group art therapy.
Key Word : Cognitive-behavioral Group art therapy, Married women, Depression, Self awareness