About Recovery

Gambling, even someone else’s gambling, can cause problems and you may need help to regain control over your life. Three types of help are discussed here: professional treatment, self-help groups and on-line treatment.

Even though these sources of help have the shared goal of making gambling less of a problem, there are significant differences among them. Each has its strengths and you may find that one fits better than the others. Below is the information needed to know which of them is right for you.

Professional treatment and self-help groups are available for both gamblers and their families. The on-line treatments currently available are for gamblers only.

Professional treatment: Professional treatment refers to services delivered by a trained therapist. Social workers, psychologists, marriage and family therapists, pastoral counselors and psychiatrists all have been trained to help people manage their lives more effectively. Therapists often develop expertise in treating specific disorders. A therapist who has specialized training and experience in the treatment of gambling problems should be the most effective.

Professional treatment can be conducted individually or in a group. Often clients will receive both individual and group therapy during the time they spend in treatment.

Individual treatment is a series of one-on-one sessions during which the therapist will help you use your own resources to address problems. Frequently, in the first few sessions, you will regain hope that your life will get better.

Professional treatment works by helping you recognize strengths and problems and by providing a framework for dealing with them. Big problems are often divided into manageable parts and each part is addressed according to its priority. For example, you can make even overwhelming financial problems more manageable by taking small steps such as developing a budget and working out payment plans with the most aggressive creditors.

One of the primary benefits of professional treatment is your relationship with your therapist. Clients appreciate the time spent working together on important problems. You may feel listened to and supported for the first time in their lives. When coping with the damage caused by problem gambling it is relief to know that someone is in your corner.

To contact a profesional treatment program please see our contact list here.

On-line help: This web-site has two self-directed treatment options for gamblers.
The first “Put Choice Back in Your Life”is a workbook designed to help you better understand your own gambling and the options for getting better. It contains the information needed to evaluate the extent of your gambling problem and helps you decide what to do.

The second (currently under construction) is a self-guided 10-session cognitive-behavioral treatment program. Cognitive behavioral treatment works by helping you change your thoughts and behavior. This type of treatment has been scientifically evaluated and been shown effective at treating a number of disorders including gambling problems. It works by helping you learn more about the connections between your thoughts, feelings and behavior. It teaches you to recognize what “triggers” gambling, and to develop alternative ways of coping. It also provides help for reducing financial pressures and choosing new activities to replace what has been given up.

The advantage of this treatment is that is no-cost, and can be accessed just about any where. It is also the most private of treatments and may be especially helpful for those who are not yet ready to share their problem with others.

Please check back soon for more information on the self-guided treatment program.

Self-help Groups: GA is for gamblers, Gam-Anon is for family members.

G.A.: The largest and most well known support group for problem gamblers is Gamblers Anonymous, G.A. for short. GA is a voluntary fellowship, founded in the late 1950s and patterned after Alcoholics Anonymous (A. A.). Like A.A., G.A. uses a 12-step approach to achieving abstinence form gambling. These steps comprise a program of recovery and personal growth, designed to help individuals stop gambling, overcome its effects and lead fulfilling lives.

1. We admitted we were powerless over gambling-that our lives had become unmanageable.
2. Came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to a normal way of thinking and living.
3. Made a decision to turn our lives and will over to the care of this power of our own understanding.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory.
5. Admitted to ourselves and another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
6. Were entirely ready to have these defects of character removed
7. Humbly asked God (of our understanding) to remove our short comings.
8. Made a list of all the persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure self or others.
10. Continued to take personal Inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understand Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
12. Having made an effort to practice these principles in all our affairs, we tried to carry this message to other compulsive gamblers.
    

In peer led groups GA members share the benefit of their experiences to help each other stop gambling and regain “sanity” in their lives. Members who stop gambling are “in recovery” and regular GA attendance is an important way of maintaining long term abstinence from gambling and improving the quality of life. One of the most beneficial parts of G.A is the genuine affection shared among members. All that’s needed to attend GA meetings is a sincere desire to stop gambling.

Click here for the GA web-site.

Gam-Anon: Gam-Anon is the fellowship for family and friends whose lives have been negatively effected by the gambling problem of an important person in their lives. Although GA and Gam-Anon share the common goals and concerns the two fellowships are not affiliated.

Gam-Anon is based on twelve steps of recovery that vary only slightly from G.A.’s.
Members provide support, practical suggestions and wisdom to help families cope with the impact of problem gambling.

Many living with a spouse’s, parent’s, child’s or other family member’s gambling problem have been severely impacted. Emotional, financial and family problems are common. Since 1960, Gam-Anon has helped thousands cope successfully with these problems and achieve greater control over their own lives.

Some advantages to attending Gam-Anon meetings, besides that it is no-cost, are members’ wealth of experience, their availability outside meeting times, and the emotional closeness that often develops.

Click here to visit the Gam-Anon web-site.