Table 6.

Representative Quotes from Domain 5: Format

Theme: Group Format I really liked being with the other girls… I never knew they were going through the same things or… the same problems… knowing someone else feels the same way you do really helped. We were able to see how they were doing [the exercises] and encourage each other. The support was the biggest thing. Getting to know other people with fibromyalgia around my age was nice. I liked learning the exercises in a group format…I liked knowing that I wasn’t the only one confused or I wasn’t the only one that wasn’t that excited about learning this really complicated exercise. [I] needed that re-assurance for myself…I saw that the other girls were fine with [exercises] I was like ok you are worrying over nothing. [I] wouldn’t want to be doing it on my own… because you wanna have other people in the group cause you know that there’s other people out there that are just like you and you also learn from their experience.

Theme: Structure of the Program It felt like [in level 4]… you got to put all the stuff you’d been working on together. I really liked how every week you would take…time for exercise and…time…to talk to everyone…it had an outline for you. They [exercises] were different every two weeks…then at the end you got to put them all together and see how much better you had gotten. Having to fill out a sheet that I did the relaxation… those techniques I just wasn’t motivated to do… now I was doing the plan that…I was supposed to be doing…

Theme: Challenges of Group Format If you are trying to watch four people you won’t catch everything. I would…lose motivation when they would turn the other way. I did not like [coping skills group] at all…when I sit down and talk to people about stuff I am going through…it’s really hard.