Women, Addiction, and Gender-sensitive Treatment

Historically, substance abuse treatment and research was centered on a male model. Only more recently has research demonstrated that women and men's rates of substance use have become more similar (McPherson, Casswell, & Pledger, 2004). Gender-responsive and trauma-informed treatment programs for women were not introduced until the 1990s and 2000s. The purposes of this review are (1) to emphasize the prevalence of co-occurring mental illness among women with substance use disorders (SUDs), (2) to demonstrate the need for substance abuse treatment that addresses the unique and specific needs of women, and (3) to highlight the need for further research on effective treatment practices that are exclusively tailored to meet the needs of women with SUDs.