Counseling survivors of domestic violence: theoretically integrated approaches

Particularly in the climate of women’s empowerment movements, clinical social workers are tasked with responding to matters related to domestic violence. To support clinical social workers in these goals, this paper offers insights, accompanied by fictitious case vignettes, for integrating feminist therapy into dominant psychotherapies for counseling survivors of domestic violence. The clinical recommendations presented in this paper are informed by best practices in domestic violence treatment, trauma research, and insights from the authors’ specialized practice in the area of domestic violence.