Social workers, in whatever capacity they work, can expect to come into contact with women who have experienced/are experiencing violence and with women who are experiencing depression.  Therefore, a range of social work supports and interventions are required in order to meet the needs of diverse women and assist them in their recovery.  One of these methods is group work where women can share their experiences, learn from each other, reflect on their learnings and identify and achieve changes in their circumstances.  This book is based on original research by the author that sought to understand depression in women from a feminist and gender-informed perspective, develop a feminist-based group work response, and highlight the activities of consciousness-raising and resistance as methods for women to achieve change in their lives and in their selves.  An innovative and creative group work program, the Womens Journaling Group Program, was developed from this research and provides a new method of working with women who have experienced/are experiencing violence and mild-moderate depression. The Womens Journaling Group Program is research-informed, theoretically-grounded, practice-based and feminist and gender-focused. This book, and the program model within it, is an important contribution to the field of critical feminist social work practice.

Dr. Deborah Western (BA, BSW, PhD) is a social worker with extensive practice experience in the fields of child and family welfare, sexual assault and family violence. She has worked for the peak body for family violence organisations in Victoria, Australia and sits on the Boards of Management of two family violence organisations in Melbourne, Australia. Deb has researched and published in the fields of family violence and violence against women more generally and in 2003 published Inside Out: A Journaling Kit. She is a researcher in the Gender, Leadership and Social Sustainability (GLASS) research unit in the Social Work department at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia and lectures there in undergraduate and postgraduate social work courses. Her research interests include women and mental health, gender, feminist practice, and violence against women.

Introduction.- An introductory visit to a womens journaling group.- A conceptual and contextual background for theorising and understanding gender-based violence and depression in women.- Gender-based violence against women and human rights.- Depression in women.- Feminist group work, consciousness-raising and resistance.- Women and journaling.- The Womens Journaling Group Program (WJGP) model.- An example outline of a Womens Journaling Group Program.- Practice guidelines for facilitating a Womens Journaling Group Program.- Postscript.- Index.