Millions of Americans meet the criteria for having a substance use disorder. Queerindividuals are experiencing a disproportional prevalence of SUD. Many Queer individuals face barriers when seeking treatment for these SUDs, including abuse, discrimination, and lack of knowledge on the part of treatment staff. Further, many of these treatment centers use gender- specific programming. Though some studies have examined the experiences of Queer individuals in treatment centers, no found studies have specifically explored the experiences of Queer individuals in gender-specific programming. This study is aimed at filling this gap by examining the lived experiences of Queer individuals in gender-specific outpatient treatment. Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis was utilized to explore the lived experiences of four participants. The findings revealed five themes with six subthemes, (a) The Power of Being Seen, with subthemes of Shared Experiences and Advocacy, (b) Safety Shapes Group Sharing, (c) Counselor Support Influences Therapeutic Value, with the subthemes of Varied Support Levels and Negative Influence of Counselor Bias, (d) Personalized Care Informs Experience with the subtheme of The Value of Identity Dialogue, and (e) Mixed Experiences of Gender Separation with the subtheme of Varied Explanation of Group.
