In any group of people, there is tremendous healing power. VIP assumes that each individual is an expert on his or her own experience. Collectively, all the members in the VIP group have all the information and experiences they need to help one another. Our greatest resource is our community. Individuals' empowerment comes through community and happens most easily and effectively when it is supported and nurtured by group energy.
Liberation is the undoing of the effects of internalized oppression.
The achievement of human liberation on a global scale will require far-reaching changes at the institutional, group, and individual level. These changes will involve transforming or unlearning oppressive behavioral patterns and attitudes. Each group targeted by oppression inevitably internalizes the mistreatment and the misinformation about itself. Internalized oppression is always an involuntary reaction to the experience of oppression. The target group so often hears misinformation and observes or experiences mistreatment that members become convinced of the legitimacy.