Addictions - Gambling Dialectical Behaviour Therapy

Addictions - Gambling

Gambling addiction, as other addictions, starts innocently and escalates to uncontrollable levels. Whether the habit involves online gambling or casino games, it can be harmful and lead to financial and relationship ruin. Gambling addiction can turn a very honest person into someone who steals money to fund the habit.  Like other addictions, gambling addiction features a lack of self-control which results in a lack of control in various other areas of a person's life. Recognising the danger signs and acknowledging the problem is the first step to healing.

Gambling addiction is an invisible disease, in the sense that there are no physical symptoms. The first sign of gambling addiction is the urge to gamble, despite the desire to quit. Most problem gamblers will deny or trivialize their addiction. However, they will often sneak around to feed their addiction, or lie about it. The condition affects their loved ones, from whom they will usually withdraw.

If you feel the need to hide your gambling habits, or lie about it, or if you want to stop gambling, but can't, you may have a gambling addiction. It's common for gamblers to want to up bets to win back their lost money, and to want to gamble even when there is no money left.

Psychotherapists offer a range of psychodynamic therapies to deal with uncontrollable, self-destructive and impulsive behaviors, including gambling addiction. Cognitive-behavioral therapy has been found to be effective in dealing with gambling addiction but therapists often use other approaches as well. The therapists in this directory use a range of different approaches, including counselling, peer support, self-help programs, and step-based programs.

If you need a counsellor or psychologist to help you address the effects of gambling addiction, you can search the directory below to find a professional with the approach best suited to your situation.

 

Dialectical Behaviour Therapy, EMDR, Emotion Focused Therapy

Dialectical Behaviour Therapy is helpful in helping clients who suffer from a wide range of mental health issues. It is most commonly used for people that are having problems managing their emotions. It typically includes individual and group sessions with focus on skill learning of attention, managing emotions and interpersonal skills.

Dialectical Behaviour Therapy helps individuals to cope with stressful situations and distressing emotions to help improve their interpersonal relationships. During times of stress, a person usually acts automatically with no regard for consequences, and this often leads to self-destructive behaviours such as self-harm, manipulation and poor eating and sleeping habits. Dialectical Behaviour Therapy can help a client to make better decisions.

During sessions, the therapist will discuss different viewpoints, because they share the theory that opposites can, and do, co-exist. The therapist will teach the client helpful skills that will help the client to accept or change a situation.

If you are looking for a therapist who offers Dialectical Behaviour Therapy, please browse our list of practitioners below..

EMDR, also known as Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy uses a range of processes to address the full clinical situation. Dual stimulation is one of the key elements and the therapist will use tools such as bilateral eye movements, taps or tones.

Reprocessing involves the client momentarily attending to triggers, past memories or anticipated future events, all the while focusing on the supplied external stimulus. Normally, the client will experience memory changes, new associations and insights. EMDR has been found to be incredibly useful for processing past and present trauma that can continue to impact an individual in many ways.

There are eight phases to EMDR treatment and the therapist will devise a treatment plan during the first phase, and equip the client with the necessary coping skills in the second phase. Phases 3-6 cover the actual EMDR treatment, described above. Phase 7 is about closure, while phase eight is all about re-evaluation of the process.

If you are looking for a therapist who offers EMDR Therapy, please browse our list of practitioners below..

Note:  Some practitioners practice Emotionally Focused Therapy rather than Emotional Focused therapy.  You will want to confirm that it is indeed Emotion Focused Therapy that the counsellor/psychologist practices.  

Note: You may narrow your search by selecting more than one filter below.

Ashley Muldoon

M.Couns., RCC
Ashley at Come as You Are Counselling is a person-centred Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC) and a member of the BC Association of Clinical Counsellors (BCACC). She has had a wide range of public facing... Read more

Drew Harms

MCP, RCC
    • Online booking
Hi, my name is Drew and I am a dedicated therapist who works with anxiety, depression, life transitions, grief, couples counselling, women's issues, children's play therapy, teen issues and perinatal mental... Read more

John Zak

M.A., RCC
    • Online booking
Let me guess, there's a part of you that wants to try out counselling and another that is skeptical of whether it will work. Perhaps you tried it before and it seemed like a waste of time and money. As a skeptic... Read more

April Griffin

M.S.W., RSW
    • Online booking
Are you finding it difficult to deal with the pressures of life, and find yourself having emotional reactions that blindside you and come out of nowhere?   I have worked with people just... Read more

Audrey Carriere

M.Couns., RCC
    • Online booking
I am a Registered Clinical Counsellor who primarily works with adults that have experienced emotional and physical trauma. Trauma can get "stuck" in the body and leave us unable to live in line with our values... Read more

Krista Blatchford

M.A., RCC
    • Online booking
Krista (she/her) has many years experience working with children (6+), adolescents, adults, parents and families. Before completing her Masters in Counselling Psychology and becoming a therapist, she was a youth worker... Read more

Aditi Jasra

MCP, RCC
    • Online booking
Are you feeling stuck or lost? Perhaps, you are struggling with overwhelm, confusion or sensing emptiness in your life? Are you looking for some direction or support with your mental health struggles and daily... Read more

kristina sohal

M.Couns., RCC
EMDR, Exposure, and CBT -Trauma Therapy for Car Accidents, Work Injuries,  Domestic Abuse, and Childhood Trauma Do you feel lost and isolated after a Traumatic event, or it is the past Trauma that just won... Read more

Heather Bach

M.A., CCC
    • Blog on profile
    • Online booking
For over 20 years, Heather Bach of Bach Counselling Group brings clinical expertise to working with those who wish to make a positive change in relationships, intimacy, depression, anxiety, trauma, grief, ADHD... Read more

Amy Rappaport

M.S.W., RCC
Welcome! I work with people experiencing a variety of life transitions and life struggles.  A stressful life event, life change, or a recent loss can make it feel like your bottom has fallen out from under... Read more

Lucy Snider

M.Sc., RCC
    • Online booking
Are you looking for sex therapy, relationship therapy or couples counselling? Are you struggling with a sexual problem and don't know who to talk to? Are you having difficulties in your current relationship or are... Read more

Lisa Bylsma

M.Ed., RCC
Currently accepting new clients. Available for in-person sessions in Nanaimo or virtual sessions anywhere in BC. After over 12 years working as a counsellor within government and non-profit organizations, I have... Read more

Josh Ruberg

M.Ed., RCC
    • Online booking
Stuck. Alone. Overwhelmed. Those are the words clients often connect with. Perhaps you have tried everything you can think of to change things. Maybe you've tried everything your friends and family can think of... Read more

Angeline Vaughan

M.A., RCC
Angeline is a Registered Clinical Counsellor (#10058) and a member in good standing with the British Columbia Association of Clinical counsellors (BCACC). Angeline holds a Masters of Arts degree in Counselling... Read more

Tracy Lau

M.A., RCC
    • Video on profile
    • Online booking
Are you ready to break free from the ordinary and sculpt a life that's EXTRAORDINARY? Raise your hand if you are tired of living today the same way as you are living yesterday, and the day before that. On the... Read more

Michael Mandrusiak

Psy.D., R.Psych
    • Online booking
Dr. Michael Mandrusiak is a Registered Psychologist (CPBC #1803) and holds a Doctor of Psychology degree.  As a psychologist in B.C. since 2008, Michael has had extensive clinical ... Read more

Spencer Copland

MCP, RCC
    • Online booking
Spencer Copland Therapy I am a Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC) with the BC Association of Clinical Counsellors. My offices are located in Vancouver and I work with clients throughout BC.  ... Read more

Danielle Holtjer

MCP, RCC
    • Online booking
Hi I’m Dani and I’m a Registered Clinical Counsellor and Clinical Director at Skylark Counselling! I have worked in the counselling field for over a decade and have had the pleasure of gaining hands-on... Read more

Kathryn Pybus

MCP:AT, RCC
    • Online booking
A Registered Clinical Counsellor (#14856) and Professional Canadian Art Therapist, I bring expertise, passion, and skill to my practice with clients of diverse cultures and experiences. I practice from a place of... Read more

Jordan Penner

M.A., RCC
Jordan has been helping people access their strengths and overcome challenges for the past 15 yearsl; with a focus on building skills that create lasting solutions.  True change comes from... Read more