How can you help women with disabilities best manage their personal and social affairs?

This thoughtful collection addresses the issues faced by women with disabilities, examines the social construction of disability, and makes suggestions for the development and modification of culturally relevant therapy to meet the needs of disabled women. Written in an accessible style—often in the words of women coping with various disabilities—and with a minimum of jargon, this book provides clinical material from the perspectives of psychotherapists, clients, personal assistants, and health administrators.

Here is a sample of what Women with Visible and Invisible Disabilities explores:

• how the Americans with Disabilities Act impacts employment and education for women
• the process of coming to grips with the situation—"Am I disabled?"
• the impact of disability on the perception of a woman's identity
• culturally relevant approaches for disabled African-American women, minority deaf women, Vietnamese women, prostituted women, women with HIV/AIDS, women who have sustained head injuries as a result of interpersonal violence, and other types of clients
• the use of prayer as a coping mechanism for mothers with HIV
• how to help women with disabilities who want to leave their partners
• perspectives on education/training, substance abuse, health care, sexuality, and reproductive rights
• workplace issues of women suffering with OCD
• eating disorders and how different populations tend to cope with them
• chronic pain syndromes and their relation to violence against women
• dormant or part-time disabilities, including silent learning disorders and PMS
• the ways that African-American women cope with arthritis
• ways to integrate spirituality, history, and women's ways of knowing into therapy
• . . . and far too much more to list in this space!

From the editors:Most of the chapters in this book address the concerns of age, ethnicity, size, relationships, sexual orientation, and other social situations that complicate the lives of women with disabilities. Several of the contributing authors address safety concerns and the vulnerability of these women, while others focus on successful coping strategies. These feminist therapists describe the extensions they have made to traditional psychotherapy in order to directly address a wide range of issues faced by their female clients with disabilities.