University of Queensland psychologists need more than 200 volunteers for a therapy program designed to more throughly test research on the benefits of Cognitive Behavioural Treatments (CBT) for problem gamblers.
Namrata Raylu and Professor Tian Oei from the UQ School of Psychology are heading a group offering the free six-week program to gamblers.
Ms Raylu and Professor Oei last year conducted a review of literature on the treatments available for problem gambling and found CBT to be the most effective.
Ms Raylu said the CBT program was significant because understanding the best treatment approaches to gambling would help standardise treatment programs for those experiencing problems Australia and overseas.
She said the liberalisation of gambling laws had resulted in Australians being recognised as the heaviest gamblers in the world.
“Recent reports have shown that Australians spend at least twice as much on average as people in North America and Europe,” Ms Raylu said.
She said that 2.3 percent of Australia’s population had significant problems with gambling, with one per cent experiencing severe problems.
A Federal Government productivity report in 1999 showed the costs of gambling to the community ranged from $1.8 billion to $5.6 billion through bankruptcy, family issues (distress, separation/divorce, violence), productivity loss, costs of crime and costs related to treating gamblers.
“And that does not include the emotional and mental suffering,” Ms Raylu said.
She said the CBT therapy program would provide volunteers with information, skills and strategies to help them understand and change dysfunctional gambling behaviours and associated issues.
Participation in the program is free and those involved can withdraw at any time. It involves 12 sessions, twice a week for six weeks, delivered by experienced clinicians.
Volunteers will be asked to complete a confidential questionnaire at the beginning of the program, and again at three, six and 12 month intervals after its completion.
Media: For further information, contact: Namrata Raylu (telephone 07 3365 7427, mobile 0402 147 875, email: prob_gambling_project@yahoo.com.au or n.raylu@psy.uq.edu.au) or Brad Turner at UQ Communications (telephone 07 3365 2659).
