The article describes an ecophenomenological model of domestic violence that helps to conceptualize the ways in which various contextual factors inform the experiences of African American victims of partner violence. The article discusses the implications of this model for the culturally competent treatment of African American victims of partner abuse and the outgrowth of violence as an African American male entitlement dysfunction. The article also examines culturally grounded messages that contribute to the development of attitudes that promote violence against African American women. The representations of African American men as victims who must be protected at all costs and the insistence that women must be responsible for protecting men -- even the men who harm them -- contribute to the vulnerability of African American women. The article explores the patient's own relational life as a site of meaning-making and sustained healing, and considers the therapeutic alliance as a source of healing. References