Background: The views of both service users with intellectual disability and their support staff on the use of physical interventions are largely unknown. The research that does exist describes a largely negative pattern of responses. The present study aimed to explore the personal impact of receiving and implementing physical interventions, and also how service users and staff felt the use of such procedures impacted on each other. Method: Eight service user/staff pairs were interviewed about their experiences of physical intervention within 1 week of their mutual involvement in a behavioural incident requiring restraint use. A qualitative methodology was employed to obtain views on a non-pain compliance approach to physical intervention. Results: Service user and staff experiences were intrinsically linked, highlighting the interactional nature of physical interventions. It was apparent that experiences of physical intervention were dependent on far more than the application of techniques alone. Conclusions: Participants' accounts were primarily negative. Service user and staff experiences were clearly affected by their appraisals of each other's behaviour throughout the physical intervention process.