Table 1.

Final Themes and Theoretical Codes

Theme	Example Quote
Perceptions of Atmosphere of Group
Communication (i.e., open and honest; effective and productive communication; listening and contributing)	“I think it’s easier to be honest. That it’s easier to speak. And that it’s easier to really and I think it comes with the honesty piece—the emotions come out.”
Confrontation and conflict	“I just said well—her trigger was having money. Mine wasn’t money. So I just mentioned that. Well, that—and she really got mad at me. And I was—I’m very sensitive. I said, “I’m not coming back.”
Feeling alone	“There was a fair amount of things that I felt like I didn’t relate to the other women on.”
Intimacy/closeness/connectedness/cohesiveness (i.e., feeling close to group members OR not feeling alone)	“…we kind of all had some common threads with our addiction. We were all able to relate to each other really well, even though we’re from fairly different walks of life. There was a lot of commonality.”
Missing attributes/suggestions for improvement	“I think that—maybe it could have been another half hour longer.”
Participation, discussion, and sharing (referring to frequency, not quality)	“There were some members that weren’t as engaged as others, but that didn’t ruin it for everyone else, those that wanted to share did share.”
Shared or received tips or advice (i.e., shared tips/advice, received tips/advice)	“And everybody in the group was very caring. If someone had a husband problem or children’s problem everyone offered some sort of have you tried this. Have you tried that? It became much more than just a woman’s group.”
Specific topics (mentioning any one of the fourteen topics, or referring to topics overall)	“certainly the topics that we covered […] they were definitely appropriate and they were interesting. They were helpful for more self-knowledge.”
Structure (including format, size, length, elements, duration of group)	“We stuck to the agenda and if somebody starting going off a little bit, it was brought right back to the agenda, which I like that.”
Understanding/empathy	“It’s always nice to be with someone else that understands what is happening”
Perceptions of Group Members
Differences and diversity among group	“Just to hear different age groups, different people kind of going through the same thing, trying to help each other in the same kind of ways.”
Different stage of recovery	“I liked that it was kind of—for the few people that were in it, that it was diverse. You had very different people in different stages of their alcoholism or recovery. It just makes it interesting.”
Gender composition of group	“I think it’s easier to be honest [in all-women’s group]. That it’s easier to speak. […] the emotions come out.”
Learned from the group (i.e., learned from others, the leader, the group in general)	“It’s helpful to learn from other peoples’ experiences as well, things that you wouldn’t have thought of on your own.”
Relationships (i.e., thinking about group members, liking group members, engages with members outside of group)	“The group I had had so much camaraderie and almost a friendship, towards the middle of the group or whatever the subject was, people got down to bare bones.”
Similar stage of recovery	“In particular one of the guys in my group we had very similar using histories and seriousness of problem, so it really was helpful to see him every week and we started at the same time and ended at the same time, so I was in there the entire time with him and our problem with drinking was more severe than most of the other people there. So it definitely helped to have somebody in the group who happened to be at the same stage I feel like I am.”
Similarities among group	“These people are like me. We have these commonalities. Age. Teenage kids. Long-term relationships. The drinking in the midst of a long-term relationship. That whole thing.”
Supportive/considerate	“There was a lot of interaction, a lot of exchange and a lot of empathy […] I think that we all shared that and supported each other.”
Self-Perceptions
Comfortable	“I felt more comfortable sharing certain topics with an all-female group.”
Feeling Guarded	“I would hold back on things in a mixed group”
Issues of Guilt, Shame, and Stigma	“I think women when they use substances tend to have a lot of similar issues that – I think there’s just I think a lot more guilt attached to it”
Safety	“It’s also a little safer to me, there are probably some things that I wouldn’t have felt comfortable talking about if it was a mixed group.”
Self-reflection, awareness, motivation, and self-change (as a result of the group)	“It kind of just forced you to think and really go through — okay, now like what did I do this week, how was I really feeling, how was I thinking…”
Use of information	“The literature was great. I took it home with me and I did, on occasion, look back to just refresh my memory on some of the things.”
Gender Differences
Gender differences	“For some reason, I think women in general just have different experiences than men going through substance abuse. Especially women who are mothers.”
Importance of opposite gender feedback	“I definitely feel like I can always relate more to women, but I like […] hearing men’s aspects as well”
Men’s group suggestions	“I think probably relationships and how substance abuse affects relationships with women and—because I do notice there’s a lot of anger with men towards their exes, ex-wives, ex-girlfriends and you may want to focus, ‘Well, it can’t be all her fault.’ Because I think men have a difficult time, talking about their relationships with women.”
No difference in men and women (i.e., a statement like: “There is no difference in x, y, or z”)	“I strongly suggest that they keep it mixed because, to me, the disease doesn’t pick whether it’s a female or a male.”
Therapist-Related
Gender of therapist	“I don’t know if it matters, but I liked that it was a female running the group, I mean it worked out nice, I liked that.”
Therapist	“The group leader. That really made it work well. The fact that there was a topic she followed and always kept us back on track.”