Gambling Harms
When gambling starts affecting more than your finances.
Gambling can affect far more than finances, it can affect relationships, mental health, confidence, work and your sense of identity.
I understand that personally. I spent around 12 years gambling, and I know the secrecy, shame, losses and despair it can create - not only for the person gambling, but for the people around them.
Recovery isn’t simply about stopping gambling. It can also mean rebuilding trust, repairing relationships, understanding what happened and why, and exploring what you want life to look like from here.
My Experience
My experience of gambling recovery sits alongside my professional training as a Recovery Coach Professional.
I currently work as a Recovery Coach with Reframe Coaching and as a facilitator for Gambling Harm UK’s Recovery Resilience Project. My experience also includes previous voluntary work with Gamcare, membership of the Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland Gambling Harms Forum, and previous/ongoing involvement in projects with GLEN, GambleAware, NatCen, Ygam and universities throughout the UK.
What We Can Work On
Gambling and gambling-related behaviours can take many forms. That might include sports betting, casinos, slots, online gambling, trading or other activities that have become difficult to control. Gaming and loot boxes can also become part of the picture for some people.
Depending on what you’re experiencing, we can look at :
Understanding the pattern - recognising triggers, urges and behaviours that keep the cycle going.
Understanding the brain and behaviour - exploring how reward, anticipation and reinforcement can influence gambling and make stopping seem impossible.
Reducing access - Practical steps such as self-exclusion, blocking gambling sites and apps, and creating greater distance from gambling.
Accountability - Integrating support and structures to help you stay on track.
Understanding industry tactics - looking at promotions, incentives, design and other features that can encourage continued engagement
Trading, gaming and loot boxes - exploring when these activities start to resemble gambling or become difficult to control, and what may be driving the behaviour.
Rebuilding trust - understanding the impact gambling can have on partners, family and relationships and taking steps towards repairing trust.
Life beyond gambling - rebuilding routines, confidence, relationships and a sense of direction.
You Can Start From Here
You don’t need to wait until things get worse, and you don’t need to have a clear plan before reaching out. Sometimes the first step is simply having an honest conversation about what’s been happening.
Whatever stage you’re at, we can start there and work out what might help.