Gambling Addiction Treatment in the UK: A Guide to Your Options
Written by Kira Bradbeer, BACP-accredited counsellor and EMDR therapist, specialising in gambling recovery for over 13 years.
If you're reading this, there's a good chance you've already done the hardest part by searching for help with gambling addiction. Gambling is known as the silent addiction and so you may well have kept this a secret and maintained the façade of living a regular life for a very long time. As you begin to open to the possibility that gambling may be something you need help with, you may now be feeling very confused and bewildered about where to turn for support.
The good news is that there’s so many choices and what I want to do in this post is walk you through the options for gambling addiction treatment in the UK. After many years of working with people in recovery, I understand there’s more than one way to recover and what may work for one person will be different for another. Although I offer private online therapy to support people with gambling addiction, I will give you my honest and balanced thoughts on the routes available. My hope is that you’ll feel clearer at the end of reading this and have an idea about your next step in getting help.
So, grab a drink and maybe a pen and piece of paper and let’s get started.
GamCare: The National Gambling Helpline
GamCare is a charity offering free support by phone, webchat and an online forum, along with some short-term treatment options. They run the National Gambling Helpline which operates day and night, every day of the year. GamCare is often the first point of contact for people who’re looking for some immediate support with their gambling or weighing up whether this is a difficulty they’re experiencing.
What's good about this route:
It’s free and immediate at any time of the day
A good place to start if you're still working out what's going on for you
They have links with the gambling treatment providers and can connect you with them
What to weigh up:
It's designed to be a first step and a bridge, rather than offering in-depth work
If what you need is ongoing one-to-one exploration of why you gamble, this is unlikely to be the full answer, although it's a great starting point
Gamblers Anonymous
Gamblers Anonymous UK has been around for decades and has well-established groups in many parts of the UK, as well as links to online groups, making this a very accessible option. It’s built on the twelve-step model and has helped a huge number of people to stop gambling and stay stopped over the long-term. It's entirely free and run by peers who have lived experience of gambling.
What's good about this route:
Offers a sense of community that's supportive
It’s completely free and ongoing, without a set number of sessions
Being with people who understand exactly what it's like to struggle with gambling
What to weigh up:
The twelve-step, group and abstinence-focused format is brilliant for a lot of people and not the right fit for others
Some people want or need a private, one-to-one space, particularly if there's trauma or something underneath the gambling that feels too raw to explore in a group setting
For some, groups can feel like uncomfortable places, especially if linked to earlier difficult experiences in family or school groups
Regional Gambling Treatment Charities
There's a network of free, independent charities delivering specialist gambling treatment across the UK. Which one covers you will depend on where you live. Breakeven covers the East and South East of England, Aquarius covers the West Midlands, Beacon Counselling Trust covers the North West, NECA covers the North East, Ara covers the South West and Wales, and RCA Trust covers Scotland. BetKnowMore also provide treatment regionally and nationally.
What's good about this route:
The services are free, specialist and may offer one-to-one and group treatment options
Several have their own particular strengths, such as services for women or for the Armed Forces community
They’ve been running for many years and have accumulated much knowledge about gambling addiction and treatment
What to weigh up:
Availability and waiting times vary depending on which charity covers your area
The type of treatment offered varies between organisations and if you’re looking for therapy specifically, it may not be provided in your area
The approach to treatment is generally more structured and time-limited than one-to-one private therapy, which may leave less room to explore experiences underlying gambling
NHS Gambling Clinics
The NHS have been building a new network of specialist gambling clinics across England over the last few years and there are now around fifteen, covering most regions. You can find your nearest one via the NHS National Gambling Clinic and self-referral page. You can self-refer, which means you don't need to go through your GP to access them, although a GP can also refer you, if that feels like an easier first step.
These clinics specialise in offering Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), often delivered in groups and one-to-one.
There's also the Primary Care Gambling Service (PCGS), which offers a different route into NHS-funded treatment and takes a holistic approach to the treatment of gambling addiction, which means that different therapy approaches are woven together to meet the needs of the individual.
What's good about this route:
Treatment is free
Multidisciplinary teams, often including psychiatrists as well as psychologists and therapists, can be a particularly strong option if gambling difficulties are severe, or sit alongside other mental health difficulties needing joined-up care
Access to psychiatric assessment and medication where appropriate, which one-to-one talking therapy alone can't offer
What to weigh up:
The structured approach that makes these clinics strong for complex or severe presentations can mean less flexibility to follow an individual thread that one-to-one specialist therapy allows
Treatment is typically CBT-based, which works well for many people, but isn't the right fit for everyone, particularly if what's needed is a different kind of therapeutic approach
Some people would rather their GP or the NHS more broadly weren't aware of their gambling and prefer the added privacy of an independent service
Residential Treatment
Residential or inpatient programmes specifically for gambling recovery are also available and typically involve a stay over a period of weeks, depending on the programme. They often combine individual therapy, group work and structured daily routines, away from the environment where the gambling has been happening. Gordon Moody is the longest-standing and best-known residential gambling treatment provider in the UK. Adferiad's Parkland Place offers a dedicated residential programme and specialise in helping people with gambling difficulties who have other addictions or mental health problems alongside this.
There are also several private rehabs offering mixed programmes, where people with different addictions are treated together and learn from one another's experiences of recovery.
What's good about this route:
Removes you entirely from your usual environment and from access to money and devices you usually gamble on
Can create the kind of circuit break that treatment in your usual home environment cannot
Often right for needing more than just weekly sessions, or for those who've tried other routes without success
What to weigh up:
A significant commitment, in cost if privately funded and in time away from work and family
In a private, mixed-addiction setting, you may not always see your own experience reflected in others on the programme, since gambling can feel quite different from substance addictions
Ensure you consider aftercare following any residential programme as navigating recovery outside of the safety of the rehab setting can feel very different
Coaching-Based Support
Coaching has become a more visible part of the gambling support landscape in recent years. Reframe Coaching is a registered charity offering free one-to-one recovery coaching, delivered by coaches with their own lived experience of gambling harm, over the phone or online. Recover Together works in a similar way and has been built by people with lived experience of gambling harm, offering one-to-one coaching alongside groups and community events. They also offer specialist support for women.
What's good about this route:
Coaching is positive and takes a forward-facing stance offering structure, accountability and check-ins
It’s great at helping you to figure out what life actually looks like once gambling has stopped
Coaches with lived experience bring a real understanding to gambling recovery
Where groups are also on offer, as with Recover Together, there's added community alongside the one-to-one support
What to weigh up:
Coaching is effective for gambling recovery itself, but coaches are trained to support that specifically and not to treat other things. If trauma, mental health difficulties or other issues sit underneath or alongside the gambling, coaches can recognise this and point you towards the right support, but treating it isn't within their scope
Where something painful from the past is tangled up with the gambling, coaching can be a good place to start, but therapy may be needed also
Private Specialist Gambling Therapy
Private therapy is another option available and this is where I sit. I work one-to-one with people affected by gambling and predominantly work with people online across the UK. I take an integrative approach to therapy, which means I draw upon a number of different approaches, including person-centred, mindfulness, EMDR trauma therapy and CBT, and I tailor therapy to the individual. From my many years of experience in residential and retreat rehabilitation programmes, I understand how to support somebody to stop gambling. In my experience, gambling is very rarely just about gambling and I specialise in uncovering and healing the trauma underneath it.
What's good about this route:
Private, one-to-one and paced entirely around you
The therapy offered is individual and considers you for the person you are
Room to follow whatever's actually sitting underneath the gambling, even if that turns out to be something you didn't expect to find
Online sessions mean access to specialist support wherever you live
Private therapy can follow free individual or residential treatment and offers scope to explore further what has been uncovered during this
What to weigh up:
It isn't free and would need to be within your means, I wouldn’t want anyone I work with to feel financially stressed by our work
It's not a crisis service, so if you're in immediate difficulty, the NHS clinics or GamCare's helpline are a better first call
If you’re looking for support from somebody who has lived experience of a gambling addiction, you may want to bolt on other support by attending GA or having coaching sessions
How to Choose
If you're not sure where to start, here's a rough way to think it through.
If you're in crisis right now, or need to talk to someone quickly, GamCare's helpline is free, immediate and open all hours.
If you want free, structured, treatment and can manage a wait, a self-referral to your local NHS gambling clinic or your regional gambling treatment charity is a strong option and it's worth checking which one covers your area.
If community and shared experience matter most to you, GA or Recover Together are both worth exploring, and it's fine to try more than one to see what fits.
If you want practical, forward-facing support with someone who's lived it themselves, recovery coaching is worth exploring.
If your gambling feels tangled up with anxiety, old pain, or something you've never quite been able to name and you want space to work through that thoroughly and privately, that's where specialist therapy, including the work I do, tends to help most.
And if things feel severe enough that you need to step away from your life for a while to get stable, it's worth connecting with a residential treatment provider to find out more about their programmes.
The Most Important Thing is to Reach Out
There's no wrong choice here and it may be that over the course of your recovery you tap into more than one source of support. The most important thing is to reach out to whoever feels like the right support for you at this moment in time.
And if you'd like to talk about whether us working together in individual, private therapy might be the right fit, you can find out more about how I work here, or get in touch directly.
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Yes. NHS specialist gambling clinics are free and you can self-refer without going through a GP first. There are also a number of regional charitable treatment providers throughout England, Scotland and Wales. GamCare's National Gambling Helpline is also free, confidential and open 24 hours a day.
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There isn't a single best treatment, it depends on what's driving the gambling and what kind of support fits you at this stage in your recovery. NHS clinics and specialist therapists tend to work well for people who want to understand what's underneath the gambling, GA and Recover Together suit people who want community and shared experience and coaching suits people who want a practical, forward-facing structure.
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Yes. Some NHS clinics, GamCare, GA, Recover Together, Reframe Coaching and private specialist therapists all offer support online or by phone, so you can access help wherever you live in the UK.
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Gambling disorder is a recognised condition, often linked to anxiety, depression, or difficult past experiences. Many people find that gambling has been a way of coping with something underneath, which is why therapy that looks beneath the behaviour can be so effective alongside other forms of support.
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If your gambling feels connected to something deeper, such as anxiety, trauma, or emotions you've never had space to process, one-to-one therapy tends to help more than a group setting can. If you mainly want structure, accountability and connection with others who understand, a group or coaching may be the better first step. The two aren't mutually exclusive either, many people use more than one at once.