Cbt And Gambling
Cbt And Pathological Gambling
CBT is Effective for Pathological Gambling August 4, 2014 Health and Mental Health Providers OBJECTIVE: Clinicians lack adequate data on the effectiveness of treatment for pathological gambling in low- and middle-income countries. Cognitive Behavior Therapy addresses gambling problems by helping a gambler examine the patterns of thinking, decision making, and managing emotion that have become destructive. The tools and insights developed in CBT can help a gambler significantly reduce one’s problematic gambling and related financial losses – if not eliminate it.
OBJECTIVE: Clinicians lack adequate data on the effectiveness of treatment for pathological gambling in low- and middle-income countries. METHODS: We evaluated a manualized treatment program that included components of cognitive-behavioral therapy, motivational interviewing, and imaginal exposure in a sample of 128 participants diagnosed with pathological gambling. Our team recruited participants via the helpline of the National Responsible Gambling Program (NRGP) of South Africa between May 2011 and February 2012. Eligible participants, who met the DSM-IV-TR criteria for pathological gambling as assessed by the Structured Clinical Interview for Pathological Gambling (SCI-PG), were referred to practitioners who had been trained in the intervention technique. We then compared pre- and post-treatment scores obtained on the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale Adapted for Pathological Gambling (PG-YBOCS), the primary outcome measure, and the Sheehan Disability Scale (SDS), the secondary outcome measure. RESULTS: Scores obtained on the PG-YBOCS and the SDS both decreased significantly from the first to the final session (t[127] = 23.74, P < .001, r = .9; t[127] = 19.23, P < .001, r = .86, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The urges and disability symptoms related to pathological gambling were significantly reduced among participants completing treatment. These preliminary results hold promise for individuals with pathological gambling in South Africa and other low- and middle-income countries.Pasche, S. C., Stein, D. J., Sinclair, H., Sinclair, H., Collins, P., Pretorius, A., & Grant, J. E. (January 01, 2013). The effectiveness of a cognitive-behavioral intervention for pathological gambling: A country-wide study. Annals of Clinical Psychiatry, 25, 4, 250-256.
References
Books:
Cognitive Behavioral Theory Basics and Beyond, 2nd edition, 2011, Judith Beck
“The leading text for students and practicing therapists”
Unfortunately, the price ($30 – $50) doesn’t work for me, so I can’t tell you if it is helpful.
Videos:
CBT Simply Explained
You tube search term: CBT simply explained
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhMmZJ3H1E8
This is a four-minute long basic introduction to CBT, worthwhile, well done
There are dozens more CBT videos on you tube – this is the best source for CBT information
Articles and Websites:
Cognitive Behavioral Theory (CBT), Provincial System Support (PSSP), Canada
Web search terms: cbt pssp gambling Ontario
https://learn.problemgambling.ca/eip/cognitive-behavioural-therapy
Cbt Gambling
Good overview of how a therapist might use CBT with an addicted gambler. Though, as I said in the chapter on CBT, I believe the CBT therapist should stop claiming that addicted gamblers will somehow be cured when their “faulty thinking” about winning is corrected. The idea that addicted slot machine players don’t know that “in the long run” they will loose, is absurd. They know that, but they also know that this time they might actually win. They know that this time they might even win a jackpot. They know this because they have done it many times in the past. That argument may seem logical, but it is simply not persuasive to the addicted gambler.
My belief is that the best way to use CBT with addicted gamblers is to learn how to understand and combat urges.