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Gambling Addiction Treatment in Houston, Texas

Gambling Addiction Treatment in Houston, Texas

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Harmony Grove Behavioral Health offers comprehensive outpatient care to those overcoming gambling addiction, substance abuse, or a combination of addiction and mental health disorders in dual diagnosis. With a focus on community and holistic wellness, our treatment centers create an atmosphere of acceptance and change to embrace a culture of healing across Houston.  

Understanding Gambling Addiction

Words like “addiction” are most commonly associated with thoughts of addictive substances like drugs or alcohol. However, behavioral addictions like sex, shopping, and especially gambling can be equally devastating to individuals and their families. Gambling addiction, also known as compulsive gambling or gambling disorder, is the compulsive and intense urge to gamble, despite negative consequences on daily life. 

Additionally, gambling can have many profound effects on a person’s mental and emotional wellness. When a person wins in a gamble, even a small amount, it releases a flood of dopamine into the brain, essentially “rewarding” a person for the gamble. This can cause a person to want to try again, chasing that same feeling. However, as gambling continues, it can feel like the only thing that can make a person feel anything at all, and the release of dopamine can become reliant on this behavior.

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Others may continue gambling in an effort to “chase losses,” or continuously wager higher and higher amounts to “make up” for past losses, escalating a person’s gambling habits while in reality going further into debt or suffering other financial setbacks. 

Addiction sets in not only when a person’s release of dopamine feels intrinsically tied to gambling, but also when a person continues to gamble, despite mounting negative consequences. However, there is always help available. Harmony Grove Behavioral Health can help you balance your needs and goals, overcoming gambling addiction in outpatient care with practical life skills to build a new and fulfilling daily life. 

Forms of Gambling

Gambling addiction can also take many forms, and there is no one, single way that the disease may manifest. Rather, being aware of the various forms of gambling can empower those living with the disease and their loved ones to identify addiction and pursue effective change. 

These forms of gambling can include:
  • Casino games like slots or roulette
  • Poker, commonly video poker, available both at dedicated machines or even on a person’s computer or phone
  • Compulsive use of sports betting apps 
  • Commercial gambling, such as lotteries or scratch-off tickets
Gambling is more accessible than ever, and a person doesn’t have to go to a casino, horse racing track, or attend a sporting event to be ingrained in the gambling culture of these spaces. From the prevalence of online video poker and virtual gambling options, apps on their phone, or especially easy-to-place sports betting apps, it can be very easy to start gambling, and very easy to lose track of how much and how often a person is losing. 

Gambling outlets are also available in various locations, ranging from dedicated casinos to gas stations, rest stops, and other establishments. Those living with the disease can feel surrounded by opportunities to gamble, from their phone to scattered in regular parts of daily life, making addressing and overcoming this form of addiction challenging.

When to Seek Professional Help for Gambling Addiction

Gambling addiction can affect every part of daily life, and can have effects far beyond the immediate financial impact of compulsive gambling. Knowing when to seek professional help for addiction is paramount. However, it is never too early to learn more about addiction, its signs and symptoms, or its effects, empowering those living with gambling addiction or their family members to take the first step toward change through education. 

Taking the first step into professional care to address gambling addiction is difficult, but there are signs that a person would benefit from exploring professional treatment options for their own health and well-being. These signs include:

  • Feeling unable to stop gambling, even if you want to, or even after repeated negative consequences and losses
  • Using gambling to escape stress or address mental health needs
  • Compromised financial security is affecting overall wellness, such as the ability to buy food, pay rent, or if you find yourself “borrowing” or selling possessions to gamble more
  • Lying to others about gambling, either about how often you gamble or how much you have lost
  • Gambling has caused interpersonal challenges, causing friction in personal relationships with loved ones and family members
  • Missing work to gamble
  • Feeling you need to “chase losses,” or continue to gamble higher and higher amounts to make up for already lost bets
  • Feelings of anxiety, restlessness, or irritation when unable to gamble
If you are questioning your gambling habits yourself or are concerned about a loved one, Harmony Grove Behavioral Health can create a program that supports your change, beginning your journey to stopping gambling through our comprehensive outpatient programs. 

Signs and Symptoms of Gambling Addiction

Recognizing the signs and symptoms of gambling addiction in yourself or a loved one is crucial, empowering entire families to take the first step toward truly transformative and lasting change. While each person’s relationship with gambling will be unique, and each person will experience unique consequences and ramifications of gambling, some signs and symptoms can prompt a conversation about professional care or exploring options for change. These signs include: 

  • Gambling longer or with higher amounts than planned
  • Using funds from other budgets, such as groceries, rent, or other personal needs, for gambling
  • Feeling compelled to continuously chase losses
  • Neglecting other needs or obligations, such as work, responsibilities at home, or academics
  • Hiding gambling behaviors or consequences from loved ones
  • Feelings of anxiety or becoming easily irritated or angered when unable to gamble
  • Perpetual feelings of guilt or shame related to gambling habits
  • Telling oneself that one “big win” is imminent or will “fix” everything
  • Overconfidence in gambling ability, or convincing oneself that games of luck are really games of skill that can be reliably won
  • Minimizing losses or their financial, emotional, or interpersonal consequences
Those living with gambling addiction may also turn to gambling as an escape from other challenges, particularly stress or mental health disorders like anxiety, depression, and more. Gambling can distract a person from these other challenges. However, it is not a replacement for actual therapy or support, and often creates new challenges when used as a coping mechanism, leading to a complex set of challenges to overcome. Addressing both gambling addiction and underlying mental health disorders in tandem is necessary for truly transformative and lasting change. 

Risk Factors and Negative Consequences

Each person’s journey with gambling addiction and healing will be unique, and identifying risk factors and negative consequences is part of effective and personalized healing.

Some of the common risk factors associated with developing gambling addiction may include:

  • Early exposure to gambling at a young age, such as a family member who gambles or a familial history of addiction
  • Easy access to online gambling platforms without digital monitoring
  • High-stress environments, either at work, in academics, or in a stressful home life
  • Underlying mental health needs or substance use
  • High degrees of impulsivity or lack of impulse control
Addressing these factors is part of effective healing. Likewise, addressing not just the causes and symptoms of gambling addiction but also the lasting consequences of gambling is also part of a comprehensive journey. Common negative consequences of gambling addiction often include:
  • Debt or financial insecurity
  • Unpaid bills or diverting funds from other budgets or savings, such as rent, necessities, or even a person’s own retirement funds or childrens’ college funds
  • Increased feelings of stress, anxiety, or anger associated with such financial insecurity or interpersonal turmoil with family and loved ones
  • Deteriorating trust between loved ones, resulting in feelings of anger, isolation, or relationship challenges
  • Compromised workplace or academic performance further affects financial well-being or self-confidence
Addressing gambling addiction means looking at all factors involved, from underlying factors that led a person to gamble in the first place to the lasting consequences. The comprehensive care and healing community available through Harmony Grove can empower you and your loved ones to confront the effects of gambling addiction and explore new lifestyles together, embracing the healing spirit and embarking on new changes together in your journey to overcome addiction and its effects.

Houston Gambling Addiction Treatment Programs

Gambling addiction can feel overwhelming, affecting every part of daily life. However, nobody is ever beyond healing. Harmony Grove’s dedicated outpatient gambling addiction treatment programs in Houston, Texas, can empower you and your family to build a new life, confronting the effects of gambling while exploring what a new and healthy approach to daily life can look like. 

Intensive Outpatient Programs for Gambling Disorder

Our flexible intensive outpatient program (IOP) is designed to meet the needs of adults struggling with gambling behavior. Individualized treatment plans focus on coping skills, relapse prevention, and long-term recovery. From building new routines to avoid gambling to engaging in practical grounding strategies, all while getting involved in the accepting healing community of Texas, we celebrate each step and milestone in your outpatient healing while balancing your responsibilities at home, academics, or obligations in the workplace. 

Personalized Treatment Plans for Gambling Behavior

We understand that no two journeys addressing and overcoming gambling addiction will be the same. Each treatment plan is personalized to address your unique history and needs with gambling addiction. From exploring underlying needs and mental health disorders to how your relationships and daily life have been affected, our personalized approach to change ensures that you receive the care most pertinent to your life. We can also explore personalized grounding techniques and practical skills most applicable to balancing your needs and goals.

Contacting one of our professionals about your needs can be the best way to explore how we can build a new program that supports your goals.

Why Choose Harmony Grove Behavioral Health?

Harmony Grove Behavioral Health offers a wealth of new opportunities to overcome addiction. Our lightning-fast, 24-hour admissions process gives you access to support when you need it most to support change in every aspect of daily life. The advantages of exploring healing with us include:
  • Boutique, community-driven programs
  • Holistic, trauma-informed care
  • Peer support and alumni community
  • Case management and legal navigation support
  • Flexible program options  
With multiple outpatient program times available, we can find a program that works alongside your daily life so you never have to choose between your healing and your professional and personal responsibilities. We also celebrate the healing power of community at every stage, individualizing your treatment plan while incorporating you into the larger healing community of Houston. Our spirit of healing focuses on personal needs and understanding, belonging, and sympathy to bring people together in solidarity of change. 
 

Getting Started Is Easy

Harmony Grove Behavioral Health is here to help you transform this commitment into action, working with you to make beginning your healing journey as smooth and easy as possible while providing support each step of the way. 

Step 1

Contact Our Admissions Team

You can contact our team by phone or through our website. We offer a confidential line so you can talk privately about your needs and expectations at our drug and alcohol rehab, and how our approach to drug addiction treatment can be personalized to fit your life and needs for effective healing and relapse prevention.

Step 2

Verify Payment

Next, you will verify your payment with an admissions team member. We talk with you upfront about any costs and work with you to explore insurance coverage. While we are currently an out-of-network provider, we still strive to provide affordable and effective care at our addiction treatment center. 

Step 2

Schedule Admissions

Once approved, we’ll schedule your admission. We can get you admitted and joining our recovery community within 24 hours of your call, ensuring that you have access to an effective outpatient rehab facility when you need it most to take your first step toward a transformed, sober life.

Evidence-Based Therapies for Gambling Addiction

Each program is built on evidence-based care, so you receive proven treatment throughout your journey. These evidence-based therapies include cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), and much more. 
The programs at Harmony Grove further support evidence-based care through holistic healing options, including adventure therapy, group therapy, fitness sessions, nutritional guidance, and mind-body connection. 

We also offer a robust aftercare program to help you maintain your hard-earned changes and newfound lifestyle. With the ability to call a counselor at any point, alumni hangouts and virtual meetings, and group activities, we are committed to celebrating change and supporting long-term healing. 

Addressing Gambling and Co-Occurring Conditions

Gambling can also be the result of other underlying needs or co-occurring conditions. We create programs that address gambling as it relates to substance use disorders or even mental health disorders, exploring the intersection of substances, gambling, and emotional needs for effective care. Only by addressing these challenges in tandem is truly transformative change possible, and we are committed to helping you explore this kind of lasting, foundational change. 

Personalized Support for Loved Ones

Addiction of any kind affects entire families and communities. Our programs include not just personalized treatment programs for those overcoming the disease, but also family involvement and therapy sessions. Harmony Grove’s aftercare and recovery resources are also available to entire families, instilling a culture of unity and change at home to support long-term healing, self-care, understanding, and communication for lasting success. 

We can support your change today

Underlying needs for lasting change. Harmony Grove can help.

Frequently Asked Questions

Casual gambling is typically infrequent or inconsistent gambling, typically done in a social environment, and for low stakes. Problem gambling is when gambling behaviors not only become a repeated, compulsive behavior, but a person is also wagering increasing amounts and affecting other areas of wellness, from financial stability to even personal routines and more, and has effects on mental, emotional, and even physical health. 

Gambling treatment is always available, and uses a combination of evidence-based psychotherapy with a mental health professional, outpatient support groups, interventions with loved ones and family members, mental and physical change, and personalized coping strategies for underlying needs such as mental health disorders, trauma, or other challenges. 

Harmony Grove is a dedicated outpatient treatment center offering outpatient support. However, we do work with residential facilities and can help you find the right level of care for your needs and goals in healing. 

Each person’s unique stresses and cravings will demand unique coping skills. Finding personalized coping skills, engaging in self-help therapies and practices, engaging in self-care practices, and working with both peers and mental health professionals alike can help you find your best combination of strategies to address urges and cravings that may affect gambling behaviors. 

Absolutely. Gambling can be directly tied to mental health needs or substance use, with those who gamble either looking for an escape from mental health conditions or the effects of substances lowering inhibitions and compromising decision-making skills, leading to problematic gambling behaviors. 

Family members are encouraged to become part of the healing program, with family-based therapy sessions available for education, communication, and understanding. 

Support groups are crucial in creating a feeling of belonging, providing not just new and practical ideas for daily life, but also challenging feelings of isolation and deconstructing barriers to new ideas, perspectives, and lifestyles in recovery.

Gambling addiction can be tied to many stress-related physical conditions, potentially leading to lack of sleep, malnutrition, hypertension, and even cardiovascular disease and high blood pressure. 

Mental health professionals lead the way in empowering you to explore your behavioral health needs and change. However, we also believe in the healing power of community, combining the expertise and resources available through our mental health professionals with peer support, community, and understanding. 

Gambling addiction treatment is effective when it is personalized to your history, experiences, and underlying needs, using evidence-based psychotherapy with personalized, holistic healing options for effective treatment.