Gambling addiction treatment (including online gambling addiction)
at the Huddersfield and Manchester Hypnotherapy Clinic

Gambling addiction is becoming more and more prevalent with the advent of the availability and ease with which one can enjoy a flutter online. Internet gambling, whether it be online poker, horse racing, roulette, or any number of gambling activities is now available 24/7 from the comfort of ones own home.

Gambling addiction is known as a compulsive behaviour, and remarkably it is very similar to the same psychological mechanism that keeps smokers in the habit of smoking. With gambling addictions, one may experience a build up of exitement as the potential of having a flutter arrives, if however the compulsion to gamble has to be defered (perhaps one has to take the kids to school or has an appointment to keep), a build up of excitement is experience. Indeed the longer the gambling acivity is put off, the more exitement builds up.

What is going on here is a mechanism of expectation build up. When the time finally arrives to have a gamble, the peak of excitement is experienced. If one is successful and wins, this leads to a belief reinforcement that things are not so bad, indeed, 'If I won that time - perhaps I can win again'.

With compulsive gambling - it's not so much the 'winning' that drives the whole process, but the exitement and expectation of potentially winning. This of course long term is not a viable belief system because odds are always stacked in the favour of the casino/ bookie and unless one is highly adept at studying 'form' (in horse racing), is a bookie (the person who is brokering the bet), or is a professional poker player of the highest standard - the belief of winning long term is simply an erroneous (false) belief system.

That said - the drive for the gambling addiction (compulsion) is not so much about 'becoming rich' from gambling - it's about the feelings involved with the acivity - the excitement - the anticipation - the buzz. It is also about the feelings of guilt that follow pretty much all losses of money when gambling goes the wrong way.

Once the gambler has been able to satisy the desire for a 'punt' - upon the most likely outcome of the event which is losing more money (or winning an amount to cause a minor dent in debts already built up through gambling activities) - a feeling of loss and guilt are the most likely effects.

Gambling addiction is a cycle of feelings of excitement, loss and guilt

People who are addicted to gambling feel compelled to gamble - it's as though there was something inside of them and out of their control - which in fact is closer to the truth than you may think.

The results of this activity long term is 'going broke' - literally.

Many hypnotherapists will offer suggestion therapy to help people with gambling addictions - but this is an absolute non-sense because the real reason for the compulsive behaviour is being allowed to exist unchecked. What this means is that if suggestion therapy (otherwise known as 'clinical hypnosis') is used on someone with a gambling addiction,the most likely outcome would be replacement of the gambling addiction with another compulsive activity such as smoking or over eating. Indeed, many hypnotherapists will offer a bit of NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) thrown in for good measure. NLP like suggestion therapy (clinical hypnosis) are very much like 'painting over the cracks' - 'coping mechanisms' taught but the real reason to the compulsive gambling acitivity is never actually dealt with and so the person is never truely free of compusive behaviour patterns.

Using suggestion therapy or other such coping mechanisms for gambling addiction is in my view completely immoral and wrong.

I am interested in curing people of their addictions, not replacing one compulsive behaviour for another, or indeed just teaching 'coping mechanisms'. I aim to completely free my clients of the real driving forces (the cause) of their compulsive gambling behaviour and so allow them to permanently live happier more prosperous lives.

The ultimate gambling addiction treatment - would you like some help to overcome your gambling addiction?

I practice a very unique form of hypnotherapy known as Pure Hypnoanalysis which is the very best form of therapy in the world for permanently releasing the cause of gambling addictions. It is a very unique and safe therapy, and upon successful conclusion, not only will the client not feel compelled to gamble, he/she will also experience improvements in all areas of life. Please contact me now for a free consultation (30 minutes to 1 hour) to learn more about how I will be able to help you with your gambling addiction.