Problem Gambling

When is it time to get help?

If you are experiencing the above symptoms and you’re experiencing financial strain, your gambling is affecting your relationships in a negative way, and you would like to stop but can’t, or you don’t feel it’s a problem but others in your life tell you it is, then you may have a gambling problem and it’s time to seek help.

Treatment methods for problem gambling

Treating problem gambling can look different for different people. For example, if gambling is a coping mechanism for, say, depression or anxiety, then those need to be looked and treated. Your therapist will talk with you about your unique individual circumstances. In general, there are several therapies that have been effective in helping clients to overcome their problem gambling such as:

• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is an evidence-based approach to treatment that focuses on how people’s thoughts, emotions, and beliefs influence their behaviour and how they perceive themselves.
• Emotionally Focused Therapy is based on observations and experience. It looks at emotions and emotional intelligence, which helps support stronger and more secure relationships by helping better understand how our actions impact others, and how our emotions drive our interaction.
• Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy can allow clients to travel deeper into the unconscious or subconscious to look at and work with issues and ideas perhaps inaccessible otherwise. It’s like guided daydreaming: a form of relaxed concentration.