Problem Gambling - A Guide for Families (PDF) - ProblemGambling.ca

• Allow yourself to take a break from worrying.
• Learn to recognize your moods, and to tell people what you
need from them.
• Learn ways to reduce stress; for example, yoga or meditation.
• Take care of your religious or spiritual needs.
• Create a list of things you like to do. Do at least one of the
items a week.
Healing Family Relationships
It is important to restore trust with family members. This
may feel impossible now. Not every relationship survives a
gambling problem.
But, for some families, working together on problems can
make relationships stronger. Couple and family counselling
can help your family get back on track.
To help restore trust, you can also:
• Identify the ways in which you still trust the person.
• Encourage the person to be honest about his or her gambling
urges, and accept what you hear. Reward the person’s honesty
with understanding, support and help in solving problems.
• Ask the person to help ease your worries. For example, if you
are afraid that he or she is gambling instead of working, ask
if you can sometimes call to ease your fears.
• Encourage the person to do some family tasks. Be positive
when he or she does so.
• Once a week, talk together about past hurts or about your
worries for the future. Be honest about your feelings. Then
for the rest of the week, take care of the present.
• Take time to have fun together, without talking about gambling
problems.
• Remember that it takes time to restore trust.
• If you need more time to talk about your hurt and angry feelings,
consider going to a support group or a counsellor.
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