Gambling addiction is by far one of the most if not the most financially destructive addiction that there is. When we are performing gambling intervention we see families and gambling addicts with their cars gone, tens of thousands of dollars in debt, and worst of all about to lose their homes. At every gambling intervention we are told by the gambler that they are chasing that next payout to just get ahead or break even. It is very similar if not identical to the way a heroin addict chases a 
fix to just feel normal. Like a heroin addict wanting to just feel normal, a gambling addict tells themselves that they just need to break even and they will stop. Families who wait to do gambling intervention sadly enough wait entirely to long. By the time we are called in to do the gambling intervention the family and gambler are almost always in near financial ruin. What makes gambling intervention difficult is that sometimes the gambler can be doing extremely well, such as a win streak. Not many drug addicts or alcoholics have these kinds of win streaks, for this reason helping a gambling addict can be challenging. If a professional gambling intervention counselor is not brought in, the family risks the opportunity of timing the intervention properly. If the timing of a gambling intervention is not precise, the family may lose the only chance they have at getting their loved one to accept help. The family is usually the last group of people left, guided by professional advice, to walk their loved one in the right direction toward getting help. If not stopped, a gambling addict will most likely end up homeless. A very similar lifestyle of a hard core drug addict or alcoholic.
Intervention for Gambling Addiction
How many more times do we have to look at the checkbook to see it empty? How many more times do you go to the supermarket only to see them decline your debit card, credit card, or even stop accepting your personal checks? If you have a loved one addicted to gambling and this has not happened, just wait, it most likely will. Being quite direct, gambling addiction is no joke and financially is one of the most devastating of all of the addictions combined. Gambling intervention is designed to help the family get their lives back as well as the lives of their loved ones suffering from gambling addiction. Although the gambler is suffering, what about you the family? How are you coping with this? Families tell us all the time at gambling intervention that they believed their loved one when they said they promised they would stop. Unlike drug addiction or alcohol addiction, gambling addicts are in a position to convince families that they can actually turn their problems around with a large win. Although they could possibly do that, but what are the odds of that? The saying that the house always wins is not something a gambler can comprehend. Gambling intervention is almost always needs to be performed before it is to late.
Gambling Intervention Program
Gambling addiction is considered a process addiction, which means behaviors are compulsive, where as substance abuse addiction requires the ingestion of some mind altering substance. The we see it, it is still a powerful addiction, and just like drugs or alcohol the gambler is avoiding some uncomfortable situations or feelings with a gambling habit. Their fix is winning, and that is what feels good, similar to a hit of crack for a crack addict. Gambling intervention program is performed very similar to an addiction intervention. The only real difference is, the interventionist has a background in helping gambling addicts and has had problems with gambling, and secondly the timing has to be perfect. It is difficult to perform a gambling intervention program on your loved one when they just came back from Las Vegas with a suitcase full of money. It is always important to consider a professional gambling intervention counselor. If you do not intervene, odds are they won’t stop.