Recognizing that gambling has become a problem can bring up a lot of questions. You may wonder whether your gambling is serious enough to seek help, what treatment actually involves, or whether it is possible to regain control without completely disrupting your life.
Dr. Eric Fields, PsyD, is a licensed psychologist specializing in gambling addiction and problem gambling in New York. These frequently asked questions explain what gambling addiction can look like, how therapy works, and what you can expect when seeking treatment.
Research shows that over 80% of people with gambling problems never seek help—so by taking this first step, you’re already ahead of the curve.
Gambling becomes concerning when it begins to feel difficult to control or starts interfering with your finances, relationships, work, emotional health, or daily life.
You may find yourself thinking about gambling frequently, betting more than you intended, chasing losses, hiding gambling from other people, borrowing money to gamble, or repeatedly promising yourself that you will stop and then returning to it.
The amount of money involved is not the only factor. What matters is the role gambling is playing in your life and whether you still feel in control of your choices.
The terms are often used to describe different points along a spectrum of gambling-related difficulty.
Problem gambling can describe gambling that is already causing financial, emotional, occupational, or relationship problems, even if the person does not meet the criteria for a formal gambling disorder diagnosis.
Gambling addiction or compulsive gambling generally refers to a more persistent pattern in which gambling becomes increasingly difficult to control despite negative consequences.
You do not need to wait until gambling has reached its most severe point before seeking help. Therapy can be useful whenever you recognize that gambling is beginning to take more from your life than you want it to.
There is no specific dollar amount, frequency, or crisis that determines when you are supposed to seek treatment.
It may be time to speak with a gambling addiction therapist if you are:
- Gambling more frequently or for larger amounts than you intended
- Chasing losses
- Hiding or minimizing gambling
- Experiencing relationship conflict because of gambling
- Borrowing money or accumulating debt
- Feeling anxious, depressed, ashamed, or preoccupied with gambling
- Repeatedly trying to cut back without maintaining the change
- Finding that gambling is affecting your work, family life, or emotional well-being
Seeking help earlier can give you an opportunity to understand the pattern before the consequences become even more difficult to manage.
Yes. Dr. Fields provides individual therapy for gambling addiction to adults in Florida by secure telehealth, as well as to adults in New York. Sessions take place online, so you can meet from home, your office, or anywhere private. His 12-week online gambling recovery program is open to adults across the U.S.
Gambling problems can involve much more than the act of placing a bet. Anxiety, depression, relationships, finances, impulse control, emotional regulation, and longstanding psychological patterns can all become part of the picture.
Working with a psychologist who has specific experience treating gambling addiction allows treatment to address both the compulsive behavior and the broader psychological factors contributing to it.
Dr. Eric Fields is a licensed psychologist whose practice focuses extensively on problem gambling and gambling addiction.
Dr. Fields is an out-of-network provider and does not bill insurance directly. He provides clients with superbills, which are detailed receipts with the information insurance companies require, so you can submit them for reimbursement. If your plan includes out-of-network mental health benefits, you may be reimbursed for part of the cost of your sessions. It’s a good idea to check your out-of-network coverage with your insurance company before starting.
You can check right now. Use this quick, free benefits check to see whether your plan includes out-of-network mental health coverage, and if so, an estimate of how much you could be reimbursed for each session:
Check your out-of-network benefits
You’ll need your name, date of birth, insurance company, and member ID from your insurance card. It only takes a minute or two.
If you have out-of-network benefits, Dr. Fields provides superbills after your sessions so you can submit them to your insurance company for reimbursement.
Knowing that gambling is causing problems and being able to stop are two different things.
Gambling can become connected to excitement, escape, relief, hope, fear, stress, or the desire to undo previous losses. Over time, gambling may become a way of managing uncomfortable emotional states as well as a behavior that has developed powerful habits and associations.
This is one reason simply telling yourself to stop gambling is often not enough. Effective treatment looks at both the gambling behavior and what is driving it. Understanding those patterns can make it possible to develop healthier and more sustainable ways of responding.
Therapy for gambling addiction focuses on understanding what keeps the gambling cycle going and developing strategies for changing it.
Treatment may include identifying triggers, examining thoughts and beliefs associated with gambling, learning how to respond differently to urges, addressing emotional factors that contribute to gambling, and creating practical changes that make gambling more difficult to continue.
Dr. Fields integrates cognitive behavioral therapy with psychodynamic and other evidence-based approaches. Treatment is individualized rather than applying the same formula to every client. The goal is to understand the full pattern—not only the gambling itself—so that change can become more sustainable.
Gambling addiction is treatable, and psychotherapy can help people reduce or stop compulsive gambling and address the emotional and behavioral patterns associated with it.
Dr. Fields primarily uses cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, along with additional therapeutic approaches depending on the individual’s needs. His approach also emphasizes understanding underlying psychological factors rather than treating gambling only as an isolated behavior.
No therapist can guarantee a particular outcome. Progress depends on many factors, including the severity of the gambling, consistency in treatment, willingness to make changes, and what other psychological or practical concerns need to be addressed.
Cognitive behavioral therapy, commonly called CBT, is one of the primary approaches Dr. Fields uses when treating gambling addiction.
CBT can help identify thoughts, triggers, and behavioral patterns that contribute to gambling and develop more effective ways of responding to them.
Dr. Fields also incorporates psychodynamic therapy and other therapeutic approaches when appropriate. This allows treatment to address not only the immediate gambling behavior but also the emotional experiences and psychological patterns that may be contributing to it.
Treatment goals are individualized.
For some people, abstinence from gambling is the clearest and safest goal. Others may initially come to therapy wanting to reduce gambling, better understand their behavior, or regain a sense of control.
Dr. Fields works with clients to establish specific treatment goals based on their circumstances and the severity of the gambling problem. The practice description includes both reducing gambling and working toward abstinence as possible treatment goals.
The important first step is being honest about what is happening and what you want to change.
Yes. Sports betting can become compulsive in the same way as other forms of gambling.
The constant availability of betting apps, live betting, promotions, and the ability to wager from a phone can make it particularly difficult for some people to disengage.
Treatment can help you examine the patterns surrounding your sports betting, understand what drives the urge to continue, and develop strategies for creating greater control.
Gambling problems and emotional distress can become closely connected.
Financial losses, secrecy, relationship conflict, uncertainty, and repeated attempts to recover lost money can create significant anxiety and stress. Gambling problems can also occur alongside depression, anger, shame, or other psychological difficulties.
Treatment therefore often involves more than simply stopping the behavior. Understanding and addressing the emotional consequences of gambling, and the emotional states that may contribute to it, is an important part of treatment.
Gambling can place enormous pressure on relationships.
Partners and family members may experience secrecy, broken trust, unexplained financial problems, repeated promises to stop, emotional distance, or uncertainty about what is actually happening.
The person who is gambling may also experience shame, defensiveness, fear, and increasing isolation. Addressing the gambling behavior is important, but repairing the effects it has had on relationships can require additional attention.
Yes. Financial loss is often one of the reasons people finally decide to seek treatment. Therapy cannot reverse past losses, but it can help address the patterns that make additional losses more likely.
One of the most dangerous cycles in problem gambling is chasing losses—continuing to gamble because you feel you need to win back what has already been lost. This can turn an already difficult financial situation into a much larger one.
Treatment can help you separate the desire to recover previous losses from the decisions you make going forward.
The first sessions provide an opportunity to understand what has been happening with your gambling and how it is affecting your life.
Dr. Fields will want to understand your current gambling behavior, previous attempts to change it, financial and relationship consequences, emotional concerns, and what you hope to accomplish through treatment.
You do not need to arrive with everything figured out. The purpose is to begin developing a clear picture of the problem and determine what treatment approach is most appropriate for you.
There is no single treatment timeline that applies to everyone.
The length of therapy depends on factors such as how established the gambling pattern has become, the severity of its consequences, your treatment goals, and whether anxiety, depression, relationship problems, trauma, or other concerns also need attention.
Some people may benefit from focused, structured work, while others need longer-term treatment to address deeper patterns contributing to the gambling.
Dr. Fields also offers a structured 12-Week Gambling Recovery Program for clients for whom that format is appropriate.
Dr. Fields’ practice is focused on gambling addiction rather than treating it as one of many unrelated concerns.
He works directly with each client to create a personalized treatment plan. His approach combines cognitive behavioral strategies with psychodynamic work and a broader examination of the emotional and psychological factors contributing to compulsive gambling.
Rather than focusing only on stopping the behavior, treatment considers what role gambling has come to play in your life and what needs to change for progress to last.
Dr. Fields uses the term behavioral dependency as an alternative way of describing addictive or compulsive patterns without relying solely on the word addiction.
He uses the term to describe a behavior that someone feels increasingly compelled to engage in despite losing control over it or experiencing negative consequences.
Gambling is one example, but similar patterns can occur around other behaviors as well.
