Violence is a social problem that therapists are called upon to address. This study focuses on how therapist Dr. Allan Wade and three female interviewees (who had been victims of violence) oriented to conversational devices, in particular those pertaining to membership categorization, during three response-based interviews. Response-based practice (RBP) is a therapeutic approach that operates on the premise that violence and oppression are unilateral acts that are always met with resistance. By incorporating a complex understanding of language and discourse, critical, postcolonial and feminist theory, and modern and postmodern therapeutic approaches, RBP offers an alternative to traditional psychological approaches. By using a variation of conversation analysis and ethnomethodology, and drawing upon the work of Deleuze, Guattari, and Foucault, I discuss how the participants oriented to particular conversational devices when accomplishing social tasks such as attributing perpetrator responsibility, acknowledging resistance, attending to negative social responses, and facilitating expressions of dignity. / Graduate