Feminist theory has viewed violence against women as being a result of a male-dominated society; however, traditional counselling approaches to helping battered women have neither addressed this view nor encouraged social change. The author of this challenging volume seeks to bridge this gap by incorporating feminist theory with counselling practice.

Whalen argues that a counsellor working with an abused woman should not aim merely to empower the client to change a situation that is intolerable for that particular woman: the counsellor should also aim to change the social conditions that foster abuse. The author's model focuses on women collectively seizing power and ending violence against all women.