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Background: Each year 795,000 people have a stroke in the United States. The effects of stroke vary greatly in each survivor, but the sum of all strokes together is severe enough to be the leading cause of severe, long-term disability in the world. This case report is written to delineate the interventions of a physical therapist to improve independence and teach new life skills for a patient post-stroke. Case Description: The patient was a 62-year-old white female who was admitted to a skilled nursing facility, following her acute hospitalization following a left hemisphere stroke. Upon her arrival she had near complete paralysis in her right upper and lower extremities. Interventions: Due to the severity of this patient’s hemiparesis, compensation strategies with transfers, and weight-bearing activities were done to increase strength in the patient’s affected side. To make these easier, transfer skills were broken down into their components step by step. Interventions like walking and standing tasks served as balance tasks and weight-bearing to elicit forced-used in the affected leg. Outcome Measures: The outcome measures used in this case report were assistance levels required during transfers, spasticity, manual muscle testing, and the Functional Independence Measure (FIM). Improvements were seen in most of these measures to increase independence, but not achieve full independence. Discussion: Key points found in this case report were the lack of research for strengthening stroke survivors with severe hemiparesis, and importance of prioritizing compensation patterns for treatment strategies that are appropriate for a stroke survivor’s prognosis. For those with severe hemiparesis, the strategies of weight-bearing through functional tasks and building strength in the unaffected extremities led to greater independence.