The last two decades of research have shown the harmful effects of domestic violence on child development. Among the promising ways of intervention to help the child exposed to domestic violence, supporting the quality of the mother-child relationship appears to be essential. This article summarizes current research on the consequences of domestic violence on the mother, the child and the motherchild relationship. It also identifies several targets for intervention which support the various dimensions of this relationship as well as the limits of current clinical strategies, illustrating the gap between research evidence and practice.