What you can expect from us
Assessment
Anyone coming into our service will be met with compassion, understanding, and commitment to help you get your life back on track. Our focus is on you. Once we accept your referral, we will call you to book your assessment appointment. Please be aware that if we contact you via telephone, it will be from a private number, if you do not answer calls from private numbers please call us on 0300 123 0996 to tell us the best way to reach you. You can expect to have an assessment by one of our clinicians, usually within 72 hours, either at the clinic or virtually, or over the phone.
We will start by reviewing your current situation and your gambling activity, how it started, what keeps it going, and how it affects you and the people you care about. We will work with you to agree on a treatment plan that is right for you. We will then book you onto our active therapy programme.
Right from the start, we will talk to you about practical steps you can take to control your gambling with immediate effect. We will discuss methods to block opportunities to gamble, including the use of apps and changes to banking and access to money, and how to cope with high-risk situations.
You may feel anxious about making changes. We will help you think about why you want to change and how you want your life to be. We will also give you opportunities to think more about it if you are unsure how you want to move forward.
We know it can make a real difference if you have people supporting you in your recovery journey. Early on, we will arrange to meet with you and your family or with people close to you, so that everyone understands the support you need to stop gambling and rebuild your life.
What gambling treatment looks like:
Following assessment, you will be booked onto our 10-week group programme for problem gambling. This is delivered by our therapists at our clinic or virtually (online). Being in a group offers the opportunity for sharing experiences, support and problem-solving.
Alternatively, you can work through our SilverCloud computerised treatment programme at your own pace and in your own time, with support from one of our therapists.
All our programmes use cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) principles and are evidence-based (research shows it works).
Our treatment programme helps people to overcome problem gambling by learning specific techniques and adopting more realistic attitudes and beliefs about the prospects of winning. It also gives you the tools to build an alternative, more meaningful lifestyle free from gambling and new ways of coping.
The group programmes are organised across 4 modules:
Empower, Inspire, Learn, Thrive.
At each session within the modules, the programme facilitator will help you focus on the changes you can make and practice these changes in everyday life. You will be asked to keep a journal and to do ‘homework’ between sessions to help with this process.
We will ask you to complete a series of short measures before each session. This will help you and your facilitator/therapist keep track of the progress you are making, and to make changes or suggest different approaches if necessary.
Above all, the programme facilitator will work with you to understand and develop solutions to your problems. In this way, you can become your own therapist and develop the skills to manage your own recovery journey.
Additional therapies
The above information describes our core offer. However, we appreciate that you may experience other difficulties alongside your gambling, such as debt, alcohol and substance misuse, stress, depression, anxiety and trauma. Where it makes sense to do so, we will offer you brief, additional therapies designed to resolve problems and support positive outcomes. With your consent, we will also involve other services to work with you on particular issues.
Review
After you have completed active treatment, a therapist will meet with you to review progress and agree a relapse prevention plan.
We will also help you continue the process of developing your skills and resources (personal, family/social, community and cultural resources – often referred to as ‘Recovery Capital’) to achieve a lifestyle that you value free from gambling.
This can include ‘booster sessions’ either within an ongoing group or through one-to-one therapy. Alternatively, if you have taken part in a group programme, you may want to continue developing your skills through our SilverCloud cCBT programme
As the service develops, we will also offer ‘Alumni‘ Groups, Peer Support and Mutual Aid, and Recovery Cafés. These groups are facilitated by ‘Experts by Experience’ and offer:
- A smooth transition between active treatment and everyday life
- Access to refresher workshops
- Opportunities to practice skills learned through active treatment
- Mutual support with peers who share experiences, hopes and concerns.
Follow-up
Recovery is a process that starts with treatment and continues beyond treatment. We will not pretend that your journey to recovery will be easy. You may experience lapses and relapses along the way, and sometimes feel like giving up. It can be helpful to think about these occasions as an opportunity for learning how to do things differently next time.
An important part of our service is the opportunity to check in with your therapist at regular intervals for up to a year after you have completed treatment and discuss progress, identify any ongoing difficulties, and get advice and support.