Abstract
Psychological treatments for disordered gambling have been a major concern in clinical psychology (Chan 2014; Chan et al. 2016). In terms of clinical efficacy, reported successful treatments include psychoanalytic intervention (Bergler 1957; Clarkson 2015; Rosenthal and Rugle 1994), behavioral therapy (Kraft 1970; Gurney 1968; Seager et al. 1966), aversion therapy (Barker and Miller 1966), imaginal desensitization (ID) (Blaszczynski and Nower 2014), self-exclusion program (Huang 2011), cognitive restructuring (Korn and Shaffer 2004), mindfulness therapy (Chen et al. 2014), and participation in meetings in Gamblers Anonymous (GA) (Ferentzy et al. 2006, 2009, 2010, and 2014). Some researchers have combined different treatment modalities into their therapeutic programs. For instance, Sharpe and Tarrier (1992) designed a treatment package that included relaxation, imaginal and in vivo exposure, and cognitive restructuring. In a similar vein, Grant et al. (2009) carried out a randomized trial study to compare groups that received ID plus motivational interviewing (MI) and Gamblers Anonymous (GA) among 68 pathological gamblers (25 males, 43 females). Both groups of investigators found the combined packages to be more effective than programs that were designed based on a single treatment modality. In reviewing the literature on the psychological treatments of disordered gambling, international gambling experts Professor Blaszczynski and Professor Nower concluded:
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Chan, C.C., Li, W.W.L., Chiu, A.S.L. (2019). Psychological Treatments for Chinese Disordered Gamblers. In: The Psychology of Chinese Gambling. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-3486-3_6
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