I recently attended and spoke at a training seminar put on by the Problem Gambling Services of the State of Oregon (a division of the Addictions and Mental Health Services of Oregon.) The two main speakers were Chris Anderson who spoke on the “Healing Power of Presence,” and Philip Yassenoff who spoke on “Gambling Treatment: a Gestalt Approach. A panel concerning “Gamblers Anonymous and Recovery” was followed by an open GA meeting. About 150 gambling treatment counselors and supervisory personnel from all over Oregon attended the 2-day meeting, held at the convention center in Seaside, Oregon.
Chris Anderson, MS, LMFT, NCGC, is a nationally known gambling and addiction therapist from Chicago, Illinois. He offers therapy, clinical supervision, forensic evaluation and forensic testimony, program consultation, and professional training. He believes that the core process of gambling addiction involves the repetitive pattern of escape from an unmanageable reality into a manageable fantasy (dream world.) Gamblers believe that “all the good things in life are just around the corner after the big win is finally made,” that life for them is not in the here and now but at some point in the future. There is a healing power that manifests when a person is present to themselves and to another. The workshop addressed how clinicians can access the power of presence and utilize it in the treatment of pathological gamblers. Normally, compulsive gamblers often feel that the more vague they can keep issues in their lives, the more they can avoid the present. The aim of Anderson’s therapy is “To help clients live fully into the here and now reality of their lives in order to live into a sense of vision that calls them forth.” It is important to move things from the abstract to the specific. He says that during therapy, the therapist should avoid rushing to fix things. It is important that the client recognizes the problems himself and becomes motivated to change. Many therapists try to lower anxiety and relieve emotional pain but Anderson says that the pain and anxiety can help motivate a client to change. Anderson was a compulsive gambler (day trading on the stock market) and has been heavily involved in Gamblers Anonymous for over 20 years.
Philip Yassenoff, LPCC, a therapist and trainer of drug, alcohol, and gambling therapists and counselors, talked about gestalt therapy and the gambler. Gestalt is focused on “How” and “What is,” especially what is taking place in the present moment. It is concerned with “organizing self in one’s environment;” it is interpersonal and contextual and supports flexibility, choice, and integration. Part of the technique is bringing gambling issues into the present much like Chris Anderson’s technique of bringing clients into the here and now. Clients need to become aware of what is happening now and not what they hope will happen in the future. He talked about a number of techniques that can be used to bring the client into the present including pointing out congruence and incongruence in their daily lives, asking them to exaggerate or diminish feelings to get a sense of their importance. One thing he does is to ask clients to heighten their awareness of breathing, talking, and how they live their daily lives, (in the present, not in the future.) Again, like Chris Anderson, he feels that the therapy can be too safe so the client feels no urgency to change but it can also be too intense (which turns off the client). The therapist has to operate at the therapeutic boundary between too much and too little stress. Ideally, the session should feel lively and engaging; the client should talk, listen, and dialogue. In a good session, the therapist is energized.
The panel on Gamblers Anonymous discussed the need for aftercare in the therapeutic process. It focused on Gamblers Anonymous and its usefulness in keeping the pathological gambler from relapsing after they have gone through the state gambling awareness treatment program for 6 or 8 months (or any other gambling treatment program.) GA’s literature states that “Gamblers Anonymous is a fellowship of individuals who share their experience, strength, and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from a gambling problem.” The basic process in Gamblers Anonymous and other 12-step groups is a technique somewhat similar to Chris Anderson’s “Healing Power of Presence,” and Philip Yassenoffs “Gambling Gestalt Therapy.” In GA and other 12-step groups, members share their experience, strength, and hope by telling what they were like, what happened to change them and what they are like now. The other members just listen and do not interrupt. They can “take what they want and leave the rest.” This way, compulsive gamblers avoid confrontational situations which can be counterproductive in addicts because they find it difficult to ask for help and want to do everything on their own. Members also can get a sponsor to talk with, advise them on following the 12-steps, and in general, help them follow the program.
As a recovering compulsive gambler, I have seen the program work for hundreds of others. Attending meetings on a regular basis is key. Addicts need to be reminded, on a daily basis, that practicing our addiction on a regular basis has altered our brain chemistry making us permanently more susceptible to addiction and relapse than the public at large.
All in all, it was an exhilarating meeting. Seaside is a good place for a meetings with good hotels, excellent restaurants, and access to a fine beach. The city has indeed changed and improved over the last 20 years.
William E. Cohen.
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