Please use caution and good judgment regarding any list of therapists as some may not be fully qualified, or adequately trained, to provide treatment. While some of the links below provide lists of therapists who claim to work with gamblers, I only make referrals to a few treatment providers that I fully trust. I can not, and do not, endorse any treatment provider unless I specifically and personally mention their name to you. 

I strongly suggest finding someone who has one of the following advanced degrees:

An MD who is a state-licensed and board-certified Psychiatrist.

A Ph.D. who is a State Licensed Clinical Psychologist (vs. an educational psychologist). In California, you can check the status of a Psychologist by going to the following website: www.psychboard.ca.gov.

State Licensed MFT (marriage and family therapists)

LCSW (Licensed Clinical social workers). In California, you can check the status of an MFT or LCSW license at the following website: www.bbs.ca.gov. There are many good counselors who hold a CAADAC degree. A CAADAC therapist has specialized training in addictions and often themselves recovering addicts or gamblers, this organization is not state-licensed so there is less control over their activities in terms of ethical behavior. Their training in recognizing and treating mental illness is limited to addictions only and not other problems like depression or anxiety. It is important to check that they are in good standing with the CAADAC organization.

You probably will want to start here with the California Office on Problem gambling link:

(please notify me immediately if you find a link that is dead, they are changing them rapidly these days! thank you)

If no gambling addiction therapist is available in your area (be sure to call 1-800-gambler to double-check), and you are not interested in working with me long distance via skype, consider finding a chemical addiction specialist who has one of the above-mentioned degrees. Take the time to ensure that any prospective therapist holds a valid and current state license to practice therapy and not only a certificate. It is also important also to ask about the extent of their training and work with gamblers.

There are a lot of people who are former gamblers that are available to work with gamblers who want recovery. They can easily be found in the Gambler's Anonymous program of recovery. They often have experience and expertise that is beyond what a therapist (myself included!) can offer due to their own process of healing and living a life based on being grounded in the 12 steps. I strongly encourage people to attend GA and ask someone to be their sponsor. A sponsor will work intensively with the gambler, guiding them into recovery and working the 12-step program. I think that if a gambler would like help from a non-state licensed therapist this is the best way to go about doing it.

Therapy NEVER involves dual relationships. A dual relationship occurs when the therapist becomes something other than just a therapist, like a friend, romantic partner, business partner, etc. These situations are dangerous and not therapeutic.

www.gamblersanonymous.org This is perhaps the most important website, it contains further information about compulsive gambling, a complete directory of meetings in your area (click on the link that says phone numbers it is a bit confusing), a link to Gam-anon, a site for family members, and a copy of the GA-20 questions, which is a very good assessment tool. 

Similarly, there is a program for spouses and family/friends of persons with gambling problems called Gam-anon be sure to check out their literature section (many of the items can be found on Amazon/eBay used)  Gam-anon link try to attend a meeting in your area if you have one, I do suggest trying more than one location if you find it is not helpful.

PLEASE GO TO MY TREATMENT PAGE to read about GA telephone 12-step meetings. 

Here is a very cool site located in Europe, completely free online gambling help, I have not used it so if you do, please email me your results with them... http://www.gamblingtherapy.org/

www.calproblemgambling.org  This is the website for the California Council on problem gambling (CCPG). CCPG is a wonderful organization that is involved in the prevention, education, and care of problem gamblers and their family. Partially funded by the California State lottery, CCPG maintains a 24-hour hipline (1-800-Gambler) that is staffed by professional counselors to help problem gamblers. 

This is a very important organization, at their website you can purchase books on the topic of problem gambling, sign up for classes on gambling addiction, and view a list of therapists. For a small fee, you can join this organization and receive their newsletter. If you have benefited at all from CCPG please consider joining them, they need all the support possible.

National Council on Problem Gambling For help outside of California this is a helpful website for locating qualified therapists who are certified to treat problem gambling and has a link to most of the state councils. 

http://800gambler.org This is the link to the New Jersey council on problem gambling, it contains a lot of useful information and links for treatment.

Safe Harbor:

This is an online site that features support and chat features where gamblers can help each other with the initial phases of recovery, hopefully, people using this will think of it as supplementary to live-in-person GA meetings.

http://www.sfcghub.com/

GAMBLOCK

http://www.gamblock.com/index.html 

This is a for-profit company that I am not affiliated with. They provide an internet blocking program that will prevent a computer from accessing gambling sites. They have been around for many years and offer strong customer support. not sure if they have a program for cell phone gambling but worth asking about. there are several more programs like this so do shop around for the right one for you. 2022 update: surely there are now many more options for various ways to block gambling sites so this is just one option to consider.