By Rick Benson
Are you wondering which gambling treatment service is best for you? In this video, founder Rick Benson discusses the benefits of attending a residential treatment facility like Algamus.
There are three different levels of self-help and treatment when it comes to a compulsive gambling disorder. The first level is attending only Gamblers Anonymous, which has a success rate of about 5% for continuous abstinence. The second is attending both Gamblers Anonymous as well as seeing a counselor once or twice a week. When adding in the counseling component, success rate jumps to about 25%. The third level is attending a residential treatment stay, such as the one we offer at Algamus Gambling Treatment Services. Our success rate, based on one year of continuous abstinence from all forms of gambling and following an individualized written negotiated aftercare plan, is about 67%. Because of this success rate, we suggest that you attend a residential stay first, and then step down to both outpatient counseling as well as Gamblers Anonymous, and then step down to only attending Gamblers Anonymous.
When someone contacts us, we speak to the person and determine whether or not we think they would be a candidate to attend our treatment program, based on a variety of criteria such as how long they have been struggling with a gambling disorder, the type of gambling, and whether or not they have any mental health issues.
Many people are reluctant to attend a residential treatment facility for a variety of reasons. The first reason is because they believe they need to be earning a paycheck every week in order to continue to pay off their gambling debts that they’ve incurred. However, the truth is that if the person continues to gamble and the money continues to go to gambling activity, then the person is no better off by staying in their employment; they would be much better off in treatment.
Another difficulty for people is the uncertainty of maintaining their current job while being away for a month at a time. We address this issue by filling out paperwork for a Family Medical Leave Act, which secures most people’s jobs during the course of the treatment process.
The third factor is the financial factor, and feeling that they cannot afford to attend residential treatment. This is something that can be covered by medical insurance, but if you do not have medical insurance, we do offer partial scholarships wherever we can, since it is our goal to help as many people recover from their gambling disorder as possible.
There is something very special that happens when a person attends residential treatment for a month, away from their home environment. Life-long bonds form between our clients as a result of undergoing this treatment experience together. This is possible because people are doing significant, deep emotional work and sharing that with each other, and they end up getting to know a person much more in depth than perhaps they've known most people in their entire lives.
In order to attend a residential treatment like ours, you do not have to have first failed while attending Gamblers Anonymous and/or outpatient counseling. If you have the financial means, and you can devote the time it takes to start residential treatment, we strongly encourage you to take that step now, since it’s proven to be the most effective method to sustain long-term recovery.
At Algamus, we are an intimate program and have a high staff-to-client ratio. Clients have the opportunity to share and heal, surrounded by other people in gambling recovery who can relate to their struggles. Ready to start healing? Contact us today for a free consultation.
