Abstract Turkus and Courtois (1996) have recommended a stage oriented approach to treatment of abuse survivors. The first stage of treatment emphasizes development of adaptive skills which the survivor can use to cope with her abuse experience. Their perpetrator's abusive actions devalue and dehumanize the abuse survivor. Focusing on survivors' capacity for adaptive self-care is particularly important the initial stage of treatment as survivors have often internalized this devalued sense of self. These perceptual remnants of abuse are frequently manifest as a diminished capacity for adaptive self-care. This article summarizes four activities designed to facilitate positive mechanisms for self-care. The over-riding goals of the interventions are to: (1) focus on the survivors' strengths, (2) empower survivors to be agents of change (3) normalize survivors post traumatic stress experiences, and (4) develop positive associational cues to counteract existing negative cues. The first activity uses the concept ...