My research interests focus broadly on issues related to violence against women in intimate relationships and its intersection with substance use and the harmful impact of trauma and complex post traumatic stress (CPTS) on women’s physical, mental and spiritual health. I am particularly interested in the meaning-making process used by women who successfully leave abusive relationships, the knowledge they acquired from their process of change and the benefits they receive from the transfer of this knowledge to others in the form of post-traumatic growth. My title for my comprehensive paper is Listening to the Voices of Women from the Margins: A New Model for Understanding Violence Against Women in Intimate Relationships, which reflects my desire to build upon the work of women who have been marginalized in mainstream theory and practice, especially Indigenous women, racialized women, immigrant women, disabled women, poor women and lesbians. My long-term goal is to create effective prevention and intervention programs that place women’s lived experience at the center of any changes that we, as service providers, policy makers and researchers, make.