The approach described applies particularly to families in which the wife has been able to leave her abusive mate and circumstances or sanctions are in place to ensure that the violence does not continue. Focusing on male toddlers aged 15-36 months who have witnessed domestic violence, the article outlines the principles of an intervention, conjoint treatment of mother and child, that helps the child and parent master the traumatic experience by drawing on the strengths of the mother-child attachment. This intervention approach is based on the transactional model of development (Sameroff and Chandler, 1975; Zeanah, Anders, Seifer, and Stern, 1989) and its applications to treatment of the parent-child dyad (Fraiberg, 1980; Lieberman and Pawl, 1988). The treatment described involves an extension of the principles of infant-parent psychotherapy. In such treatment, the infant and parent are both present. The aim is to improve the quality of transactions between parent and infant so as to foster a securer attachment as a context for continuing development. Toward this end, the parent's distorted perceptions of the infant are gradually interpreted as transferences from the parent's past relationships. Collaborative "baby watching" by parent and therapist provides entry into the parent's projections onto the baby as well as an opportunity for seeing the infant's actual attributes and needs. In such treatment, the goal has been to help the mother understand her child's symptomatic behavior as specifically reactive to the violent events they have both experienced, so that she can begin to provide the understanding and reassurance that allow the attachment to be restored. 35 references