The purpose of this study was to investigate the research trends in art therapy theses related to self -
esteem that have been presented in Korea over a 17-year period. For this purpose, 274 pieces of 264
master's theses and 10 doctoral theses were collected from KERIS online information service, and the
frequency and percentages of the subjects were divided into research fundamentals, study subjects, research
designs, and research methods. The main results of this study are as follows. First, trends in research
fundamentals have been announced steadily by year, with the phenomenon having increased rapidly in
2008, and art therapy occupies a large proportion of research majors. Second, the trends of the study were
5-10 normal children in mixed groups. Third, the research design trends were integrated study, pre - and
post - test design being performed in group, and not having many subjects to control. Self-esteem related
measures (SEI, SES, SEQ) and K-HTP assessments were highly frequent in the employed test tools. Fourth,
the research method trend was 11 -15 sessions in total, and the time required was 40 - 60 minutes. These
results will help future researchers who plan and implement art therapy research to improve self – esteem.