This study was developed in response to the dearth of knowledge about the lives and views of women with severe work disabilities (SWDs). This study is significant in that qualitative approaches to investigation combined with a feminist standpoint methodology (Alcoff & Potter, 1993; Riger, 1992) and a strengths-based approach to interviewing (DeJong & Miller, 1995; Saleebey, 1997) gave five women with SWDs the opportunity to describe their lives, experiences, and decisions in an interpersonal context. Prolonged observation of the participants, in-depth interviews, and interactive viewing of videotaped interviews were used to identify emerging themes that can widen the view of women with SWDs so that more than merely a snapshot of problematic aspects of their lives is given. Theories and interventions can effectively address the needs of women with SWDs only if derived from the women's standpoint (Alcoff & Potter, 1993).