The 18 boys and girls, ranging in age from 8 to 13 years and recent residents of shelters for battered women, participated in group counseling sessions designed to stimulate the children's expression of their feelings and experiences. The initial impact of this early intervention group was evaluated by interviewing the children and their mothers separately. Overall, the mothers felt positively about their children's participation, but only one-third indicated that the group had led to any significant behavior change. The children responded to a structured interview both prior to the group counseling and subsequently. More children could identify appropriate strategies for handling emergency sessions following the group sessions, 73 percent at posttest versus 44 percent at pretest. In terms of individual attitude change and self-perceptions, 85 percent of the children could identify two or more positive things about themselves in contrast to 53 percent at pretest. The group counseling was associated with a decrease in the extent of violence that the child condoned within the family. 39 references.