Gender specific treatment involves treating men and women in a different setting in order to remove some of the distractions and barriers that may arise from being around members of the opposite sex. It also allows clients to feel more comfortable and focused as they go through detoxification around peers of the same gender. In many cases, individual barriers to recovery are gender-specific and therefore men and women have very different feelings about seeking treatment, how their disorders affect their body and the stigma associated with their barriers to treatment.
Additionally, Gender specific treatment provides treatment for women in a specialized setting. It allows female clients to share female specific issues such as pregnancy, trauma, and abuse without feeling they have to hold back their emotions and stories in a room full of mixed genders.