Four principles to guide a feminist practice with individual survivors of male violence are described and illustrated. The principles and the processes they activate address both the survivor's situation and her self-representation. They involve challenging oppressive cultural discourse about gender, discourse that devalues, blames and subjugates women and girls, especially as these beliefs are internalized and impact on the survivor's constitution of identity and her subsequent interpretation of experience from that position. Oppressive beliefs, internalized as truths, are repoliticized by connecting their local manifestations to the overarching cultural stories that perpetuate them. The principles and processes are predicated on social constructionist ideas and draw upon structural social work and narrative practices.
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